3-13-19 - Jesus the Brood Hen

(You can listen to this reflection here. Sunday's gospel reading is here.)

People concerned about gender-inclusive language in Christian worship and theology find a dearth of maternal or feminine imagery in the bible. There is Spirit language that can skew feminine. Late Isaiah has a startling passage in which the restored Jerusalem is likened to a nursing mother (in quite graphic language…). Paul writes about having been like a nurse to a community he has been mentoring. But references are few and far between. So many make much of this remark of Jesus’ about Jerusalem:

“How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings…”

If we’re seeking the maternal, this is hardly the scene. Jesus may desire to gather the children of Jerusalem as a hen gathers her brood, but he’s just noted their penchant for killing God’s messengers, and what follows this nurturing image is a stark negative: “…and you were not willing!”

Whatever maternal feelings Jesus may be expressing here are those of a mother who’s been rejected by her offspring (much as he brushed off his own mother when she tried to persuade him to stop all this foolishness and come home?). This is a thwarted mother, whose invitations to loving embrace have been spurned, who knows her beloved children are more than capable of turning on her next. Hardly the feminine imagery we are looking for.

Yet, a thwarted mother is not a bad way to understand God’s experience with a faithless people (and perhaps less jarring than the way the prophet Hosea depicts God, as a cuckolded husband). Most of us can relate to times when we pushed away our mothers or fathers and tried to go our own way. Sometimes it’s the only way we can attain independence.

What If we put aside the context in which that phrase is uttered and just go with the image itself, with Jesus’ desire that God’s people would consent to be brooded over, to be gathered under God’s almighty wings. In this image, we are little fledglings, not fully able to take care of or protect ourselves. We like to think we’re big and tough and self-sufficient, but look at us from God’s perspective: we are barely hatched, still trying to figure out how to move in a straight line. And Jesus desires to gather us in community, and hold us in his love.

Puts a whole new spin on Easter chicks, doesn’t it?

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