Heavenly Citizenship and Multiple Citizenship

2  Lent C        February 21, 2016             

Gen.15:1-12,17-18   Ps. 27

Phil.3:17-4:1   Luke 13:22-35 

Lectionary Link

  

  St. Paul was a Jew who lived in Tarsus and he was a Roman Citizen.  In the time of Paul there were confusion about situations of multiple citizenships.  Paul was a cultural and religious Jew, but he also was a citizen of Tarsus from Cilicia.  When Paul travelled to Jerusalem, he obviously was subject to the local laws of those who governed in Jerusalem.  His status in Tarsus carried no weight in Jerusalem.  But there was a trump card which he played when he was seized by the Roman army in Jerusalem; he told the commander that he was a Roman citizen and as such he had the right of appeal to a more supreme tribunal, one in Rome.  And because of this appeal, Paul began his escorted trip to Rome. 

  Roman citizenship carried some special privileges in the Roman Empire and St. Paul used the citizenship metaphor when he wrote to the Philippian church, "Our citizenship is in heaven."  So Paul was a Jew, he was a citizen of Tarsus under their laws, he was a Roman citizen which gave him rights and privileges throughout the empire, but he did not believe the cultural and religious citizenship as a Jew to be final, he did not believe the local citizenship status in Tarsus to be final, he did not regard citizenship in the world Empire, the Roman Empire to be final, because finally he wrote, "Our citizenship is in heaven."

  Lots of people interpret heaven as a place which will be known at the end of one's life or at the end of time.  People who conceived the world spatially thought of heaven as being located above the domed sky which was above the flat earth.  It is hard for us to spatially locate heaven today but we do understand "inner" space.  It is easy for us to understand heaven as metaphor for an interior quality of life which is accessible to us now and in our deaths.

  People who are skeptical of religion criticize the way in which religious people use the notion of heaven.  They think that heaven is used as a method of escape.  They think it is used by oppressors to keep the oppressed tolerant of their oppression because they are promised eternal life and gold on the streets of a future heavenly Jerusalem.  This is why Marx called religion the opiate of the people.

  So how does heaven function as a metaphor for you and me?  Do you and I feel like we are carrying a passport of heaven?  And what is the worth of this heavenly passport?  Are we using it as passive Christians who tolerate injustice because we feel we can wait for some future time when justice will finally be rendered?

  What is the function for you and me of this metaphor of heavenly citizenship?

  The first function has to do with knowing that we have a heavenly citizenship.  By this I mean that it is important that we recognize our primary identity and our primary nature.  This follows from our belief that we were made in God's image.  We feel like we have been made in the image of the eternal because even while our bodies are aging we feel like there is something in us or about us which will never die or pass away.  We often try to replace that native sense of eternal life with the desire for fame, glory and recognition.  Once I've written or sung a line or two, then perhaps I will be immortal and famous and remembered.  The quest for fame may be but the lack of belief in the eternal image of God upon our lives; so we seek to prove that we are everlasting and immortal in other ways.

  The entire point of the Bible is about salvation history, the history of what is truly healthy in human experience, namely the recognition of our spiritual and heavenly identity.

  The events in salvation history are presented as God's covenants with humanity.  These covenants appear in all ages and in all times and some of the details of the ancient covenants don't make much sense to us.  When is the last time God made a covenant with you and required you to bisect some animals and make a promise to be so "bisected" if you did not keep your promise with God?  The important thing about the covenant with Abram is that he accessed the eternal promise of God through his faith.  And faith is the important issue not the ancient details of animal sacrificial covenantal rites.

  How does having and knowing heavenly citizenship function for us now?  If we can believe ourselves to live and move and have our being in the most expansive realm of all, then we will have the most global identity of all to help us in the conflicts which arise in the other realms of citizenship.

  St. Paul had potentially conflicting citizenship identities, as a Jew, as a Cilician of Tarsus and as a Roman citizen.  The conflicts between these realms ultimately brought about  his death.

  In the Gospel lesson, we read about the pain and the suffering which occurred because of conflicting citizenship claims.  The prophets came to remind people that their first citizenship was in heaven.  But others denied the primacy of the kingdom of heaven.  Many people thought that being a Roman citizen was the most important identity.  Being a Roman citizen gave one rights and privileges.  Many Jews believed that the identity which they received from the Hebraic and Judaic tradition was the most important identity.  People like King Herod had identity conflicts.  He was a local ruler for the Roman Emperor who also tried claim a heritage as a Jew but when it came to prophets he believed it was most important to uphold the power of the Roman government in Palestine and so Jesus was crucified.  The books of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles were written as books to be read in sequence.  The book of the Acts of the Apostle records how Stephen was stoned in Jerusalem and James was killed there as well.  So the conflict between the requirements of citizenship of different group identities figured into the violence in Palestine at the time of Jesus in the early Christian eras.  In the case of prophets and Jesus it seemed as though one paid the price of being a heavenly citizen with one's life.

  I think we need to recognize our heavenly citizenship as something like climbing to the top of the mountain and looking on the landscape below.  From the highest view one can see how things can be negotiated and how things can be fit together and where resistance needs to be applied when competing citizenship requirements happen.

  You and I have many citizenship claims on our lives today, political, national, local and in our family.  We are citizens of our parish; we are citizens of all of the different civic, business and community organizations.   Since we have so many different citizen situations, we need to have the wisdom to be able to live and regulate all of the citizenship claims upon our lives.

  This is why we need our heavenly citizenship.  Like St. Paul we need to acknowledge that ultimately we live and move and have our being in God, that is, we are citizens of the widest and highest and most encompassing realm.   And if we can learn to live and think from this expanded perspective, then we can receive wisdom to make the practical decisions which we have to make in all our citizenship situations.

  Let us be honest though; there is always going to be conflicts in various citizenship requirements of the various identity groups of our lives.  Some conflicts are going to be severe.  Foxes like Herod do not protect the hens in the henhouse.  They will attack the hen, even as she tries to hide her brood under her wings to protect their lives.

  Jesus got caught in the conflicting requirement between citizenship realms  in Jerusalem.  And he became like the hen who sacrifices her life for the lives of her brood.

  But Jesus as the Son of God was the ultimate citizen of heaven.  And heaven gave Jesus back heavenly life after his death as a proof of his divine status.  But the heavenly afterlife of Jesus also means for you and me that heavenly life is greater than earthly death and pain.  Heavenly life co-exists as a parallel reality for us to know now within all of the agony and ecstasy of earthly life; and heavenly life is the life which is stronger than our own deaths.

  Today as we try to be good citizens of so many human identity groups today, let us not forget our primary citizenship, our citizenship in heaven.  And remember we have the example of the ultimate citizen of heaven, even Jesus Himself.  Amen.

Sunday School, February 21, 2016 2 Lent C

Sunday School, February 21, 2016    2 Lent C

Themes:

St. Paul wrote that our citizenship is in heaven

Discussion about what Heavenly Citizenship means

Contrast with American citizenship.

How does one become an American?  Being born here or being naturalized

  For a non-American, one has to study and take an oath of allegiance to become a citizen

  How does become recognized as a member of the church?

    By baptism.  We study for baptism and for confirmation and we make vows to God at baptism and

    confirm.  We keep making those vows over and over again to remind ourselves of what it means

    to be a “heavenly citizen.”

People who are born in America and are citizens by birth still say the pledge of allegiance over and over again to remember who they are and to remember that there are things that we have to do to be good American citizens, like following our laws and voting and public service.

Have a discussion on what it means to be a good citizen of the church because in the church we celebrate the fact that we are citizens of God’s world and this is as important as being citizens of a country.

Abraham celebrated that he was a citizen of heaven by making a covenant or promise with God and he believed God made a covenant with him to be the father who would the founder of a great family, the family of people with faith in God.

Jesus reminded us that human governments are not perfect, in fact sometimes they kill good people.  They kill prophets or the people who try to help us live better.

Jesus said that he wished that he could be like a “mother hen who protected the baby chickens under her wings.”  He was speaking about all of the people who suffered in the city of Jerusalem because they did not want to obey God’s plan for them to become better. 

Like Jesus we should want to protect those who cannot protect themselves.  Like Jesus we should always stand up for what is fair, loving and kind, even if we get punished for it.

A sermon about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  A modern prophet who was killed

  We have read today about a time when Jesus was sad.  He was sad about the city of Jerusalem because of how they treated the people who came to show them how to live better lives.  He was sad that the leaders of Jerusalem even killed the prophets.

  And you and I should be glad today about where we live.  Why?  We live in a country where we have religious freedom.  Prophets and preachers and priests of all sorts can live in our country.  They have the freedom to start their own churches and their own religions and everyone can choose to go to church or not go to church.  Everyone’s freedom of worship is protected by law.  And this is one of the greatest gifts that our country has given to us.  And it is one of the greatest gifts that we have to give to other countries in our world.

  So if we don’t kill prophets in our country, does that mean we’re perfect?  Well, no.  What is a prophet?  A prophet is someone who comes and gives us a message about how to live our lives better.  Your parents and your teacher may be prophets sometimes.

  And we do not always like to hear the voice of the prophet.  We may get used to bad habits.  We may get lazy.  We may also want to choose the easiest way.  And so when a prophet comes to us and tells us how to live better, sometimes it is not easy to change our habits.  And sometimes we don’t want to change our habits.  Sometimes we will disobey the prophets in our lives.

  In our country we have had a prophet who died because of his important message.  A person disobeyed our laws and killed this important prophet.  Do you know who that prophet was?  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Martin Luther King, Jr. was a prophet.  Did you know that in our country, if the color of your skin was black, you used to have to sit in the back of bus?  If you were black you could not go to same schools as people who were white and you could not eat at the same restaurants?

  Martin Luther King came and he told us how we could be better people.  He told how we could live together and how we could treat everyone with fairness.  And some people did not want us to live together with fairness.

  Martin Luther King, Jr. was an American who died as a prophet in our country.  And we were saddened by his death.  But we are glad for what he taught us about living together as friends.

  Let us remember a lesson.  We are never so good, that we can’t get better.  So let us pay attention to the messages of the people who want us to get better.  Those people are prophets in our lives.  And you too will be prophets if you can show and tell other people how to be better

St. John the Divine Episcopal Church

17740 Peak Avenue, Morgan Hill, CA 95037

Family Service with Holy Eucharist

February 21, 2016: The Second Sunday in Lent

Gathering Songs: O Be Careful, Peace Before Us, I Come with Joy, I’ve Got Peace Like a River

Song: O Be Careful (Christian Children’s Songbook, # 180)

O be careful little hands what you do. O be care little hands what you do.  There’s a Father up above and he’s looking down in love, so be careful little hands what you do.

O be careful little feet where you go.  O be careful little feet where you go.  There’s a Father up above and he’s looking down in love, so be careful little feet where you go.

O be careful little lips what you say.  O be careful little lips what you say.  There’s a Father up above and he’s looking down in love, so be careful little lips what you say.

Liturgist: Bless the Lord who forgives all of our sins.

People: God’s mercy endures forever.  Amen.

Liturgist:  Oh God, Our hearts are open to you.

And you know us and we can hide nothing from you.

Prepare our hearts and our minds to love you and worship you.

Through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Liturgist:         The Lord be with you.

People:            And also with you.

Liturgist:  Let us pray

O God, whose glory it is always to have mercy: Be gracious to all who have gone astray from your ways, and bring them again with penitent hearts and steadfast faith to embrace and hold fast the unchangeable truth of your Word, Jesus Christ your Son; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Litany of Praise: Chant: Praise be to God!

O God, you are Great!  Praise be to God!

O God, you have made us! Praise be to God!

O God, you have made yourself known to us!  Praise be to God!

O God, you have provided us with us a Savior!  Praise be to God!

O God, you have given us a Christian family!  Praise be to God!

O God, you have forgiven our sins!  Praise be to God!

O God, you brought your Son Jesus back from the dead!  Praise be to God!

Liturgist: A reading from the Letter to the Philippians

But our citizenship is in heaven, and it is from there that we are expecting a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. He will transform the body of our humiliation that it may be conformed to the body of his glory, by the power that also enables him to make all things subject to himself. Therefore, my brothers and sisters, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, my beloved.

Liturgist: The Word of the Lord

People: Thanks be to God

Liturgist: Let us read together from Psalm 27

Therefore I will offer in his dwelling an oblation with sounds of great gladness; * I will sing and make music to the LORD.

Hearken to my voice, O LORD, when I call; * have mercy on me and answer me.

 You speak in my heart and say, "Seek my face." * Your face, LORD, will I seek.

Litany Phrase: Thanks be to God! (chanted)

Litanist:

For the good earth, for our food and clothing. Thanks be to God!

For our families and friends. Thanks be to God!

For the talents and gifts that you have given to us. Thanks be to God!

For this day of worship. Thanks be to God!

For health and for a good night’s sleep. Thanks be to God!

For work and for play. Thanks be to God!

For teaching and for learning. Thanks be to God!

For the happy events of our lives. Thanks be to God!

For the celebration of the birthdays and anniversaries of our friends and parish family.

   Thanks be to God!

Liturgist:         The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Luke

People:            Glory to you, Lord Christ.

Some Pharisees came and said to Jesus, "Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you." He said to them, "Go and tell that fox for me, 'Listen, I am casting out demons and performing cures today and tomorrow, and on the third day I finish my work. Yet today, tomorrow, and the next day I must be on my way, because it is impossible for a prophet to be killed outside of Jerusalem.' Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! See, your house is left to you. And I tell you, you will not see me until the time comes when you say, 'Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.'"

Liturgist:         The Gospel of the Lord.

People:            Praise to you, Lord Christ.

Sermon – Father Phil

Children’s Creed

We did not make ourselves, so we believe that God the Father is the maker of the world.

Since God is so great and we are so small,

We believe God came into our world and was born as Jesus, son of the Virgin Mary.

We need God’s help and we believe that God saved us by the life, death and

     resurrection of Jesus Christ.

We believe that God is present with us now as the Holy Spirit.

We believe that we are baptized into God’s family the Church where everyone is

     welcome.

We believe that Christ is kind and fair.

We believe that we have a future in knowing Jesus Christ.

And since we all must die, we believe that God will preserve us forever.  Amen.

Litany Phrase: Christ, have mercy.

For fighting and war to cease in our world. Christ, have mercy.

For peace on earth and good will towards all. Christ, have mercy.

For the safety of all who travel. Christ, have mercy.

For jobs for all who need them. Christ, have mercy.

For care of those who are growing old. Christ, have mercy.

For the safety, health and nutrition of all the children in our world. Christ, have mercy.

For the well-being of our families and friends. Christ, have mercy.

For the good health of those we know to be ill. Christ, have mercy.

For the remembrance of those who have died. Christ, have mercy.

For the forgiveness of all of our sins. Christ, have mercy.

Youth Liturgist:          The Peace of the Lord be always with you.

People:                        And also with you.

Song during the preparation of the Altar and the receiving of an offering

Offertory Hymn: Peace Before Us (Wonder, Love and Praise, # 791)

1-Peace before us.  Peace behind us.  Peace under our feet.  Peace within us.  Peace over us.  Let all around us be peace.      2-Love, 3-Light, 4-Christ

Doxology

Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise Him, all creatures here below.

Praise Him above, ye heavenly host. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

Prologue to the Eucharist

Jesus said, “Let the children come to me, for to them belong the kingdom of heaven.”

All become members of a family by birth or adoption.

Baptism is a celebration of birth into the family of God.

A family meal gathers and sustains each human family.

The Holy Eucharist is the special meal that Jesus gave to his friends to keep us together as the family of Christ.

The Lord be with you

And also with you.

Lift up your hearts

We lift them to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to God.

It is right to give God thanks and praise.

It is very good and right to give thanks, because God made us, Jesus redeemed us and the Holy Spirit dwells in our hearts.  Therefore with Angels and Archangels and all of the world that we see and don’t see, we forever sing this hymn of praise:

Holy, Holy, Holy (Intoned)

Holy, Holy, Holy Lord, God of Power and Might.  Heav’n and earth are full of your glory.

Hosanna in the highest.  Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. 

Hosanna in the highest. Hosanna in the Highest.

All may gather around the altar

Our grateful praise we offer to you God, our Creator;

You have made us in your image

And you gave us many men and women of faith to help us to live by faith:

Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Rachael.

And then you gave us your Son, Jesus, born of Mary, nurtured by Joseph

And he called us to be sons and daughters of God.

Your Son called us to live better lives and he gave us this Holy Meal so that when we eat

  the bread and drink the wine, we can  know that the Presence of Christ is as near to us as  

  this food and drink  that becomes a part of us.

And so, Father, we bring you these gifts of bread and wine. Bless and sanctify them by your Holy Spirit to be for your people the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ our Lord.  Sanctify us by your Holy Spirit so that we may love God and our neighbor.

On the night when Jesus was betrayed he took bread, said the blessing, broke the bread, and gave it to his friends, and said, "Take, eat: This is my Body, which is given for you. Do this for the remembrance of me."

After supper, Jesus took the cup of wine, gave thanks, and said, "Drink this, all of you. This is my Blood of the new Covenant, which is shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Whenever you drink it, do this for the remembrance of me."

Father, we now celebrate the memorial of your Son. When we eat this holy Meal of Bread and Wine, we are telling the entire world about the life, death and resurrection of Christ and that his presence will be with us in our future.

Let this holy meal keep us together as friends who share a special relationship because of your Son Jesus Christ.  May we forever live with praise to God to whom we belong as sons and daughters.

By Christ, and with Christ, and in Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit all honor and glory

 is yours, Almighty Father, now and for ever. AMEN.

And now as our Savior Christ has taught us, we now sing,

(Children rejoin their parents and take up their instruments)

Our Father: (Renew # 180, West Indian Lord’s Prayer)

Our Father who art in heaven:  Hallowed be thy name.

Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done: Hallowed be thy name.

Done on earth as it is in heaven: Hallowed be thy name.

Give us this day our daily bread: Hallowed be thy name.

And forgive us all our debts: Hallowed be thy name.

As we forgive our debtors: Hallowed be thy name.

Lead us not into temptation: Hallowed be thy name.

But deliver us from evil: Hallowed be thy name.

Thine is the kingdom, power, and glory: Hallowed be thy name.

Forever and ever: Hallowed be thy name.

Amen, amen, amen: Hallowed be thy name.

Amen, amen, amen: Hallowed be thy name.

Breaking of the Bread

Celebrant:       Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.

People:            Therefore let us keep the feast.  

Words of Administration

Communion Music:  I Come With Joy   (Renew! # 195)

I come with joy a child of God, forgiven, loved, and free, the life of Jesus to recall, in love laid down for me.

I come with Christians, far and near to find, as all are fed, the new community of love in Christ’s communion bread.

As Christ breaks bread, and bids us share, each proud division ends.  The love that made us makes us one, and strangers now are friends.

Post-Communion Prayer. 

Everlasting God, we have gathered for the meal that Jesus asked us to keep;

We have remembered his words of blessing on the bread and the wine.

And His Presence has been known to us.

We have remembered that we are sons and daughters of God and brothers

    and sisters in Christ.

Send us forth now into our everyday lives remembering that the blessing in the

     bread and wine spreads into each time, place and person in our lives,

As we are ever blessed by you, O Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Closing Song:   I’ve Got Peace Like a River (Christian Children’s Songbook, # 122)

I’ve got peace like a river, I’ve got peace like a river, I’ve got peace like a river in my soul.  I’ve got peace like a river, I’ve got peace like a river, I’ve got peace like a river in my soul.

I’ve got love like the ocean, I’ve got love like the ocean, I’ve got love like the ocean in my soul.  I’ve got love like the ocean, I’ve got love like the ocean, I’ve got love like the ocean in my soul.

I’ve got joy like a fountain, I’ve got joy like a fountain, I’ve got joy like a fountain in my soul.  I’ve got joy like a fountain, I’ve got joy like a fountain, I’ve got joy like a fountain in my soul.

Dismissal:   

Liturgist: Let us go forth in the Name of Christ. 

People: Thanks be to God! 

A Fox and a Mother Hen

2  Lent C        February 24, 2013             

Gen.15:1-12,17-18   Ps. 27

Phil.3:17-4:1   Luke 13:22-35 

 Lectionary Link

  When someone who has the power to exploit is given a position of power over the vulnerable and the helpless, we have an expression:  We say, “The fox is guarding the henhouse.”  It’s really means that the fox is plundering at will the ones whom he is supposed to be protecting.

  In our appointed Gospel today, we have a juxtaposition of the fox and the hen in the saying of Jesus.

  Jesus called Herod a fox.  And Jesus wished to gather up the vulnerable people of Jerusalem like a mother hens does her chicks.

  This imagery strikes me as images of resignation in the face of the inevitable.  Why, did not Jesus use the image of an eagle or some other bird of prey?  Surely a bird of prey would convey an image of strength and resistance.  Even if he had used the image of a rooster, at least a rooster would fight back and offer resistance to a fox.

  But Jesus chose the image of a mother hen, a feminine image.  And this is the image he associated himself with.  A mother hen in the dark of the chicken coop will hide her baby chicks under her wings and when the fox comes, she will not flee.   She will bare her breast and neck to the oncoming foe.  It is an unfair fight.  But the fox will find more than enough to eat in taking the mother hen, and so the little chicks are left alive but scattered after the attack.

  This imagery became the imagery for the early Christian community.  Jesus was the mother hen, who sacrificed his life so that those who followed him might live.

  Jesus, was a country boy from Nazareth in Galilee and his message and mission was at odds with the city of Jerusalem.  Herod was the foxy representative of the Roman authorities who wanted to manipulate the politics of Jerusalem to his advantage in power and wealth.  The Pharisees and Sadducees, too, wanted to manipulate the religious politics to their advantage and to their survival.  It was imperative that wise and foxy politics prevail to negotiate most favorable terms to the residents of Jerusalem who were trying to make the best of it in the midst of Roman occupation.

  Jerusalem, such as it was, had no time or place for a prophet with a message that they did not want to hear.  And for the most part, people who had political and religious power were not the ones who were won by the message of Christ.  The hearts that he won came from the people of the countryside and from the neglected and the powerless.  Those people were the “baby chicks of the mother hen Jesus.”

  The historical irony is that Christianity went from the countryside Jesus movement to a city religion in the Roman Empire, and finally to become a religion of the empire and of the many great cities in the empire.  So those who practiced Christianity learned also to be skilled practitioners of the foxy political arts.

  We know that even with the advance of Christianity the killing of the prophets did not subside.  We have a long history of the persecution and killing of heretics or reformers.  And it is not distant history either. Martin Luther King, Jr. was killed by forces that did not want his message to continue and succeed.  We know in Anglican history rivalry between reform and Roman Catholic power bases created martyrs.  The person who wrote the first Book of Common Prayer, Archbishop Cranmer was burnt at the stake.

  It may be that Jerusalem and every city will always kill the prophets and the reformers who challenge the justice of those who hold power.  Because, it just so happens that justice works best on behalf of those who have money and power.

  The United States as a system of government tried to establish its form of governance to do away with the “killing of the prophets” mentality.  By separating church and state, no one is allowed legally to kill a prophet.  Any prophet has the freedom to gain their own followers and practice their own faith beliefs as long as they don’t impinge on the rights of others and do not break the law.  Our nation’s founders were filled with Enlightenment thinking and they were embarrassed by all of the religious wars that had plagued the continent for so many years.  They wanted America to be a new promised land where “no prophets” would be killed.   The America philosophy has been, it’s better that there be a thousand religions than any one religion be allowed to kill prophets.

  We, as Americans, should be proud about perhaps our greatest contribution to the world.  And yet we should not be so proud as to not keep up our vigilance when our laws and practices do not protect and promote the care of the vulnerable people in our society.

  If, we, in America have committed ourselves to the prevention of the killing of any prophets, how can these words of Christ have relevance for us today?

  First I think that there is a natural conservatism in everyone and every system that resists reform.  So the first impulse is to get silence the voice of the one who presents the need for reform.  Even on a personal basis, there are insight that each of us receive to change the direction of our lives.  And while we don’t actual kill a personal prophet, we may actually squelch the voice of reform in our consciences that is telling us to change the direction of our lives so that we can have more successful living outcomes.

  Also, I believe that there was a bigger fox than Herod that Jesus was addressing.  What was it that made Herod the fox?  Herod had the power to take the lives of those whom he wanted to get rid of.  In a sense, the fox that was bigger than Herod or even the Roman Empire was the fox of death itself.

  Just as the mother hen is easy prey to fox; so we too know that we and everyone are easy prey to death, because it is certain to come.  As pastors, friends and family we know the threats of that fox death in its many forms of disease and accidents.  We feel vulnerable and we know its power and we want to protect our friends and loved ones from its power.  And yet in our time we will have to offer up our breast and neck to that fox, death itself.  But we can do so in hope, because all that is good in our life that has been protected in the covering of our wings will live on forever.

  Jesus, as mother hen for his brood, offered his breast and neck up to that great fox, death, and yet his life continued strong in those who scattered yet who were drawn back together by knowing the continuing presence of Christ in his resurrection.

  The words of Jesus for us today, are sadly realistic, because unlike other religions that only allow positive thinking, we don’t try to whitewash the dark side of life out of the picture.  But in our sad realism, we know the great fox death does not win in the end; resurrection is around the corner.  Our sad realism is because our lives are such wonderful times to cherish that loss is poignantly felt.  And if loss is poignantly felt, how much greater will the gain of resurrection life be.

  And so today, we lament with Jesus, the sad realism of the apparent power of the foxes of this live to exploit and plunder those who are vulnerable.  May we, even like the vulnerable, mother hen, Christ himself, be ready to stand against the foxes in this life, so that what is good and right might continue and multiply.  Amen.