Sermon for Lent II Year C 2013 Facing Our Fears: The Fox and the Hen One moonlit night a fox was prowling about a farmer s hencoop when he spied a rooster high up beyond his reach. Good news! Good news! cried the fox. Why, what is it? asked the rooster. King Lion has declared a universal truce. Henceforth, no beast shall hurt a bird but all shall dwell together in brotherly friendship. Why that is good news! said the rooster. And there I can see someone coming with whom we can share the good tidings! And so saying the rooster craned his neck forward and looked afar off. What is it you see? asked the fox. It is only my master s dog that is coming toward us. What? Going so soon? the rooster continued as the fox quickly turned to walk away upon hearing that the dog was on its way. Will you not stop and congratulate the dog on the reign of universal peace? I would gladly do so, said the fox, but I fear he may not have heard of King Lion s decree. The fox was clever... but the rooster was more so! Talk about a fear factor Fear can manipulate and motivate even the fox! In today s gospel, you could say that the Pharisees are trying to manipulate Jesus by using fear. Run away, Jesus. You re a marked man. Herod has it out for you. You re going to get hurt if you hang around here much longer. But Jesus responds, Tell that fox I have work to do first. Jesus knows what awaits him in Jerusalem. Prophets die in Jerusalem. Of all the gospels, Luke makes it clearest that Jesus marches resolutely on to Jerusalem and death, because that is how he will accomplish his task. 1
Moreover, by calling Herod a fox, he has named their supposed concern for what it really is: fear mongering. He will not fall prey to their fear. And in a complete reversal which is so typical of Jesus, he turns the tables on the dealers in fear and the hen rebukes the fox and then he follows his rebuke with a poignant lament: Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how often I have longed to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wing, but you were not willing. The Pharisees probably understood: Jesus has already made their attempt at fear into a fox. Now he is calling himself the protective hen and the children of Jerusalem the hapless chicks. Before we go on, I just want to make sure we all know how well foxes and hens get along. We all know what foxes can do, especially to panicked chicks who run loose and unprotected? So now we have the Fox, which is Herod, but it is also, by extension fear. And the Hen is Jesus, and by extension God. The chicks are those who live in Jerusalem, and by extension the Israelites and by further extension... us. In Jesus lament, he is not afraid, as the Pharisees hoped. He is sad grieving really because he knows that the fear which could not entrap him, will catch many of his children. It is fear of Herod, fear of shame, fear of the Romans, perhaps even fear of change, which will cause them to turn their backs on Jesus despite their initial excitement about him. This text is foreshadowing that day which we call Palm Sunday when Jesus will enter Jerusalem to shouts of joy, Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, only to have them shout for his death a few days later. He knows they will act out of fear more than anything else. 2
We live in fearful times. News sources from television to radio and newspapers remind us constantly that our world is a dangerous and unpredictable place. Natural disaster, violence, domestic abuse, war, famine, and all kinds of atrocities take place each day. Tales of economic and social woe fueled by pundits on both sides of the political fence raise anxiety levels. Marketers incite fear and insecurity to encourage us to spend and buy material possessions which we really do not need and which cannot possibly heal our emotional wounds or provide the contentment we long for and seek. Fear is a perfectly natural emotion that helps us recognize danger and respond appropriately. And yet this healthy emotion can turn into an unhealthy or even pathological response that leads to more and more aggressive and inappropriate behaviors. Gandhi rightly pointed out that The enemy is fear. We think it is hate; but it is fear. That is why God and Jesus and even the angels of scriptures so often begin their encounters with us by saying: Fear not. or Do not be afraid. The antidote to fear is faith. For followers of Christ, faith is much more powerful than fear because, as Paul reminds the church at Philippi, Our citizenship is in heaven. Yes, we live in this world, but this world does not have the final say over our lives and ultimate purposes and end. We do not, or at least we should not, find our meaning in material cravings, petty excesses, or worldly gain and fame. Because of Jesus the Christ and the never-ceasing love and grace of God, we have a future no one can rip away from or deprive us of. Because of the Crucified and Risen One, we do not have a spirit of fear but of boldness. 3
By faith, we can be a bold rooster or hen and gain strength, courage and confidence through the grace of the cross and face down the foxes that would seek to control us by fear. So, by faith, Jesus publicly defies the fox s intimidating death threats with the message that he won t cower before the fox s gleaming, sharp teeth. He will continue on with his mission of casting out the forces of evil and offering healing to the sick. The love that Jesus has for his chicks, his little ones, casts out fear. Jesus is undeterred by threats. He continues to bring in the kingdom, today, and tomorrow, and the next day after that Though misunderstood and rejected, Jesus continues to offer salvation. The word of God today invites us to have no fear because of the eternal covenant the promises of God And, instead of lamenting about the state of world Getting frozen with fear by listening to the fox, We could ask with trust and courage the deeper questions: What is really going on? Can we make a difference? If so, how? While being conscious of our world s pain and diminishment, we need to listen to the voice of a deeper reality which tells us: Have no fear." That is the voice of the amazing God who has claimed you and me. The amazing God who laid down his life for you and for me. The amazing God who told Herod: Tell that fox that I ve no time for him right now. Today and tomorrow I m busy clearing out the demons and healing the sick; the third day I m wrapping things up. Not distracted by fruitless fear from his tasks, or diverted from his purpose, Jesus keeps on serving, serving, serving and giving, giving, giving. We too can live by the vulnerable power of the cross as we face a world full of foxes. We can choose to live by fear or, through the grace of God, we can face our fears and live by faith. 4
You know the Fox of our fable at the beginning of this sermon really was a lot like Herod of the gospel. You see the Roman Empire which saw itself as the ultimate power prided itself on establishing and maintaining the pax Romana the peace of Rome But that so-called peace came at a terrible price. It came at the price of thousands of crucifixions, slavery and oppression for the poor and the conquered. And it was principally maintained by violence and fear. It took our Mother Hen, Jesus, to challenge the truth of this death-dealing way of living and establishing peace. To face our fears and live by faith, we need to look to the cross and remember how Jesus faced his fear of the crucifixion. We need to remember him in prayer in the Garden of Gesthemane when his soul was so troubled that he prayed while sweating drops of blood. And yet he prayed, Your will be done. Jesus never forgot who he was and before whom he lived his life and who would vindicate his life-giving love. So what do we see when we face the cross? Do we see a megalomaniac self-serving Jesus who surrendered to the cross in some elaborate state-assisted suicide mission, preferring to leave his life in the flesh behind in order to be in glory with his Father in heaven? What kind of savior would that be? Or do we see self-giving love, the kind that is more akin to the life-giving love of a mother who dies in giving birth to her child? When we look to the Cross, do we trust, as Jesus did, that while we intended it for evil, God intended it for good. The cross tells us that goodness is always stronger than evil, love is stronger than hate, and life is stronger than death. Beloved chicks and roosters, tell that to the foxes of this world! 5