In the verse above Jesus compares himself (and God) to a mother hen who has tried relentlessly to gather her wayward chicks under her wings for protection and life. That has always been a powerful image for me.

In the passage from Luke, Jesus laments the fact that Jerusalem (meaning God’s people) has stubbornly avoided being gathered under God’s wings. They are like chicks who have intentionally and/or inadvertently resisted God, running away from him to explore the hen house or the barnyard on their own. They have gone their own way to do their own thing. And at times, they have willfully disobeyed God....ignored God....and persecuted God’s messengers.

And yet God continues to chase after his prodigal chicks. Like a loving mother God never gives up on his people. He seeks them out to gather them in, love them, and protect them. Such a love the world has never seen.

I heard a story recently about prairie chickens in the upper Midwest where prairie fires are a common experience. It is not uncommon, I was told, to wander a field following a fire and find the charred body of a prairie hen covering her still living chicks. The hen gathered her chicks under her wings and sacrificed herself in order to save the chicks.

And that is exactly how God loves us. God, our mother hen, continuously comes to us, seeking to reign us in under his wings in order to protect us and save us....to give us life.

As we celebrate Mother’s Day this month we remember the love of our earthly mothers, the time and commitment and sacrifices that they made for us. At the same time, let us also remember the commitment and sacrifice that our loving God - a mother hen, as Jesus alludes to in the passage from Luke - has made for us as well.

In Christ,

Pastor Knowles