{"id":9818,"date":"2021-02-07T19:49:31","date_gmt":"2021-02-07T19:49:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theologie.whp.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/?p=9818"},"modified":"2022-10-24T09:25:38","modified_gmt":"2022-10-24T07:25:38","slug":"luke-1331-35-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/luke-1331-35-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Luke 13:31-35"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

At that time some Pharisees came to Jesus and said to him, \u0093Leave
\nthis place and go somewhere else. Herod wants to kill you.\u0094 He replied, \u0093Go
\ntell that fox, \u0091I will drive out demons and heal people today and tomorrow,
\nand on the third day I will reach my goal.‘ In any case, I must keep
\ngoing today and tomorrow and the next day\u0097for surely no prophet can
\ndie outside Jerusalem! Oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets
\nand stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your
\nchildren together, as a hen gathers her checks under her wings, but
\nyou were not willing. Look, your house is left to you desolate. I tell
\nyou, you will not see me again until you say, \u0091Blessed is he who comes
\nin the name of the Lord.’\u0094 <\/em><\/p>\n

THE FOX AND THE HEN IN YOUR OWN BACK YARD<\/p>\n

Introduction
\n<\/strong>
\nThe stories we often reserve for children save their most profound meanings
\nfor adults. We tend to forget that Aesop wrote his fables for adults, not children,
\nand that Lord of the Rings <\/em>, hugely popular with children, has depths
\nof meaning only adults can fathom. The same may be true of Luke’s telling of
\nthis snippet of his Gospel which is today’s Lenten text. In the first place,
\nif you take Luke’s Gospel as a whole, you can’t miss the fact that everything
\nis moving, inevitably, toward a destiny. This is a goal-oriented mission. There
\nmay be circuitous routes taken along the way, and we may be allowed to learn
\nmore of what’s going on behind the scenes than we need to know, but Jerusalem
\nis where we’re heading. That’s clear in today’s text as well. In the second
\nplace, the text reveals more than a mere warning about a potential trap from
\nHerod and Jesus‘ response and lament over the Jewish people. This is a reversal
\nstory about leadership and power in which those whom we might think have control,
\nsurely don’t, and the way in which control is exercised will surprise all who
\npay attention. It’s the old story about the fox and the hen, told with a twist
\nwhich only Luke could have mastered.<\/p>\n

The fox is not destined to have his way<\/p>\n

<\/strong>There are many fables about foxes. Just check a search engine
\non the internet. In almost all of them, the fox is wily, deceitful, seeking
\nto be in charge. His method of control involves strategies and power
\nplays. He’s in it for himself. He wants to get something in his chops.
\nIn one version, he runs in circles around the hen house until the hen
\ngets dizzy watching him and falls to the ground, only to be thrown in
\na sack by the fox. However, when the hen revives, she replaces her weight
\nin the sack with a rock, and the fox goes home with unsuspected booty.
\nFoxes are often devious, yet dumb.<\/p>\n

In Jesus‘ world and in ours as well, there were\/are wily types who want
\nto control people, to secure their personal advantage. The Pharisees
\ntell Jesus, for example, that Herod is out to get him. One wonders, however,
\nwhich is playing with the greater ploy. The Pharisees are not known for
\ntheir love for Jesus who often challenges their self-centered religiosity.
\nSome of them might be only too happy to send Jesus into Herod’s clutches.
\nOn the other hand, Herod, known for his cruelty and devious mind, has
\nlong awaited an audience with this upstart Galilean. Both had their strategies,
\nboth their hope to acquire control by pulling the right strings. Both
\nwere foxy in their own way.<\/p>\n

We have such people in our own time, people who seek their own advantage
\nand use others only to secure that interest. Some of them occupy visible
\nseats of power. Perhaps their names come too easily to our lips. We have
\nbeen told that they have names like Hussein, Bin Laden, Kim, and Kdafy.
\nWe have to be careful, however, because sometimes the very people who
\nwant us to brand them the axis of evil, themselves have their own agenda
\nfor personal power. Additionally, some of these people are not among
\nthe rich and famous. They work in our offices, teach in our schools,
\nworship in our churches, and live in our homes. They may rightly claim
\nthat they seek the best interests of others, the advantages of those
\nnearest and dearest to them, but, in reality, they are controlled by
\nself-interest, that base motive which has something to say about all
\nour actions, leaving none of us without condemnation. We are all about
\npower, so it is best not to point the finger. It is better to beat one’s
\nbreast in confession and repentance.<\/p>\n

Jesus minces no words. He knows exactly what’s going on in the self-serving,
\nconniving of those who seek to control, so he calls Herod the fox he
\nreally is! \u0093Herod may want me to do this or that,\u0094 he says, \u0093but I have
\nmy own agenda. I have various ministries to take care of and then I’m
\nheading for Jerusalem, the holy city, where they kill the prophets!\u0094 Jesus
\nknows where he’s going and why\u0097and it has something to do with us as
\nwell. He goes to Jerusalem because the foxes of this world want to have
\ntheir way. He goes there because of us.<\/p>\n

The holy cities of this world may give the pretense of leadership. Leaders
\nwho work in their self-interest, for that matter, sometimes give the
\nimpression of righteousness. However, Jesus knows that these are hollow
\nclaims and that such definitions of power ultimately lead to self-destruction.
\nHerod who ruled as a deceitful oppressor was finally exiled to Lyon in
\n39 A.D. by Caesar. The Pharisees who claimed inherited privilege lost
\ntheir control with the destruction of their sanctuary in 70 A.D. Those
\nin our own world, ourselves included, who insist on idiosyncratic values
\nand alien priorities may be oppressors for a time, but ultimately control
\nis lost. The reign of the fox is sometimes brilliant and flashy, but
\ninevitably short. Here and there prophetic voices may be raised to challenge
\ncontrol takers and self-seekers, and at times they are silenced. In the
\nlong, run, however, Jesus says that if the voices of reason and justice
\nare silenced, the very stones will cry out (Lk. 19:40), especially if
\nthe prophets are killed. The fox is not destined to have his way.<\/p>\n

The hen gathers where others scatter<\/p>\n

<\/strong>It should be noted that Luke chooses to combine some sayings
\nof Jesus in this text that Matthew places in other contexts. In so doing,
\nhe gives the reader a delightful comparison between the old fox and the
\nhen stories, although the much-loved reference to the hen and her chicks
\nis originally from Jesus himself. When you think of all the animals with
\nwhich he could have compared himself, it is quite interesting that Jesus
\nchooses the hen. Not only is there a lovely feminine allusion to a mother
\nhen gathering her chicks in these words. There is also something bold
\nand brave here which other animals could not represent for us. When the
\nhen attacks, there are no fangs, no claws, no tearing of flesh. If the
\nfox wants her chicks, he will have to kill her first\u0097wings spread, breast
\nexposed. And this is exactly what happens. She is there, in a new form
\nof power and leadership, as the one for others, the servant leader, the
\none whose extravagant love considers the welfare of the lost foremost.
\nThus the means of survival over against the attack of the wily foxes
\nof this world is provided not by retaliation or brute force, but by gathering
\nthe innocent, the victims, into a community where the love of the mother
\nhen lives on even after her death.<\/p>\n

I wonder whether you can think of settings in which such love works
\nfor you in your own back yards. Often our children, our friends, our
\ncolleagues do things to others or to one another which are wrong and
\nhurtful, yet we cannot stop them. We cannot prevent their power plays
\nand control strategies because it may not be our role to do so. Wings
\nspread, breast exposed, we stand visibly on the sidelines or in the backgrounds
\nof their lives, calling them to remembrance of our love for them, of
\nthe gathered community in the church where a different kind of power
\nis celebrated. We are not the lion, the eagle, the panther, nor was Jesus.
\nAnd sometimes we can be surprised and touched as they back off or apologize
\nor make amends when they remember having once experienced at our touch
\na love which was bolder than force, a compassion which was greater than
\nmight.<\/p>\n

Four-hundred and eighty-two years ago this week, throughout the first
\neight days in Lent, 1522, Martin Luther returned from the Wartburg to
\nhis parish at St. Mary’s in Wittenberg and gave us an example of this
\nvery compassion. He had heard that in his absence foxes had gotten into
\nthe henhouse and stirred up the flock. They had begun to use violence
\nto initiate the reformation and, following false leaders, began to destroy
\nproperty and lives. For eight days in a row, Luther preached to a packed
\nhouse, encouraging, pleading, challenging, and gathering. At the end
\nof those eight days, the revolution came to an end and the reformation
\nof which all of us are heirs moved in quite different directions. The
\nproper leadership is crucial. Calling and gathering one another into
\nservant communities in which Christ’s love changes lives is the most
\nimportant task of the church. In the families, neighborhoods, cities
\nand nations in which foxes seek to divide and conquer, to operate unilaterally
\nand arrogantly, there has never been a greater need for the spirit of
\nthe gathering mother hen, the consolidating and compassionate Christ,
\nwho points us away from ourselves and to the needs of all humankind.<\/p>\n

Conclusion <\/strong><\/p>\n

Of course, we know that not everyone comes when the invitation to such
\nloving communities is given. Today’s Old Testament and Epistle lesson
\nremind of times when Abram and Sarah were suspiscious of God’s love,
\nand the Philippians had their doubts as well. For that matter, contrary
\nto the politically-correct movie reviews of Mel Gibson’s The
\nPassion of the Christ <\/strong>, many in authority in Jesus‘ day, including
\nHerod’s court and many of the Pharisees and the Sadducees, did not in
\nfact heed Jesus‘ invitation to enter a community in which love held sway
\nover privilege and law. Luke tells us that Jesus had dim hope for the
\nfuture of these men and their style of leadership and power. (And it
\ndoes not make us anti-Semitic for holding this perspective since we know
\nthat all people are capable of such inauthentic living, including the
\nJew’s of Jesus‘ day.) \u0093Your house is left desolate,\u0094 he cries out to
\nthem. And this is true for many in our own work and social settings as
\nwell, and perhaps for some of us too. If your style of relating to people
\nserves your needs rather than theirs, your leadership will not last.<\/p>\n

Jesus is calling us today to make some choices, knowing that many may
\nreject his invitation. He calls because there are still money changers
\nin the temple, widows and orphans without support and a Lazarus at the
\ngate of rich men and women. He calls because there are wars and rumors
\nof wars, religious leaders straining at superfluities and young people
\nlost in the vast innocuous promises of virtual reality TV and the promiscuity
\nof virtual reality lives. As long as the foxes roam unchallenged in our
\nown backyards, Jesus calls to a new possibility. As long as Jesus sees
\nus building lifestyles that use the fox’s strategies of self-serving
\npower, he will stand before us with wings outstretched and breast bared,
\ngathering us and showing us his wounds. He will call us to the only life-style
\nwhich builds lasting relationships. He will encourage us to consider
\nthe caring and loving practices on which wholistic marriages, ethical
\ncompanies and just nations are established. And when we are weary from
\nbattle, and questioning our success in going it our own way, he may hear
\nus plaintively and longingly shout, \u0093Blessed is he who comes in the name
\nof the Lord.\u0094<\/p>\n

Prof. Dr. Dr. David Zersen, President Emeritus
\nConcordia University at Austin
\nAustin, Texas
\ndzersen@aol.com <\/a><\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At that time some Pharisees came to Jesus and said to him, \u0093Leave this place and go somewhere else. Herod wants to kill you.\u0094 He replied, \u0093Go tell that fox, \u0091I will drive out demons and heal people today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will reach my goal.‘ In any case, I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8543,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38,727,108,110,863,3,109],"tags":[],"beitragende":[],"predigtform":[],"predigtreihe":[],"bibelstelle":[],"class_list":["post-9818","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lukas","category-archiv","category-current","category-engl","category-kapitel-13-chapter-13-lukas","category-nt","category-predigten"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9818","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9818"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9818\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14324,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9818\/revisions\/14324"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8543"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9818"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9818"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9818"},{"taxonomy":"beitragende","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/beitragende?post=9818"},{"taxonomy":"predigtform","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/predigtform?post=9818"},{"taxonomy":"predigtreihe","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/predigtreihe?post=9818"},{"taxonomy":"bibelstelle","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bibelstelle?post=9818"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}