Reading this passage takes me back to the days of vibrant downtown Kingsville. No boarded up stores, for downtown was the equivalent of today's shopping centers. We had real 5¢ and 10¢ stores, where items still sold for a nickel and a dime. And during the approach of Easter some of these stores had in their display windows what seemed like hundreds of baby chicks that had been dyed in pastel colors. It seemed every year for a spell, we had a "pet" chicken. it seemed that in no time that chick would grow into a full-size hen and not leave our yard. And I'll stop the story there, for I know many of my generation know "the rest of the story."
Jesus knew about hens and chicks and He knew His role in coming to bring love and protection to the people of God. In spite of Jesus' pure intent in preaching, teaching, working signs and wonders, not everybody liked him; in fact, the Pharisees made it their full time preoccupation to find a way to destroy Him. This passage finds them even warning Jesus to leave the area for "Herod wants to kill you." Jesus was not afraid and told them that His plan was to continue His ministry of "casting out demons and performing cures today and tomorrow," and hints at what was to come on "the third day." His attention turns to lament over the city of Jerusalem, for it did not have a good history in terms of its relationship with God and God's messengers. He then makes the declaration, "How often I have desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!" How typical and tragic that as He's speaking these words, He has learned firsthand that Jerusalem's attitude towards God and God's messengers has not changed. God offers love and protection and we want our own way. God offers us a place to find refuge and we want to run away. Jesus then speaks a word about that Sunday when the crowds would holler, "Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord."
Our Lenten Journey should take us right to the wings of God's love and protection. It should take us to that place of blessing and strength with which we can face life and life's challenges and opportunities. Time spent under God's wings can prepare us and bless us to be the blessing those running from God need to hear. This area in which we live is undergoing an oil and gas boom called Eagle Ford Shale. It has made several landowners very wealthy almost overnight. It has brought in a labor force that has claimed all available housing and has closed down area hotels and motels for a long time. As a result new apartments and new hotels are going up quickly. In a workshop we had to help us strategize how best to serve these new residents, we heard disturbing news of how this boom has affected the area in negative ways. The most troubling was that some of the "man camps" where these men live have had to hire security guards to keep out high school girls who have discovered prostitution as a way to make money with the men living in these camps. They, as a small example, are precisely the "brood" that Jesus wants under His wings. So are the men who take advantage of them.
Our work to share the good news will always have a ready challenge and opportunity in which to share that better way that we know. Our time spent with God helps prepare us to live a life that should invite others to "come and taste that the Lord is good."
PRAYER: Loving God, it seems that I run so fast from here to there that I sometimes forget that I have a place where I can rest and be blessed. I thank You again for Jesus and His message to me and all who claim it, that You can gather us under Your wings as a hen gathers her brood. Gather me, dear Lord, gather me. In Jesus' name I pray, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
Eradio Valverde
