Against the Flow

Luke 13:31-35

Rev. Dr. Mary Alice Mulligan

Let’s get the Herods straight. Herod the Great ruled, with Rome’s approval, when Jesus was born in Bethlehem. When foreign astrologers, the magi, came looking for the new King of the Jews, Herod the Great flew into a tizzy, which intensified when the magi did not return to Jerusalem after they visited the Holy Family. We remember the story when Herod the Great sent soldiers to kill all the toddlers in Bethlehem. Jesus was spared because the family fled before the death squad arrived.

Now in Jesus’ adulthood, Herod the Great’s son, Herod Antipas, is ruler, but not over everything his father had. His realm is limited to a fourth of his father’s territory. So, we shouldn’t be surprised that Herod Antipas has a huge chip on his shoulder, demands tremendous respect, and responds viciously to any slighting of his authority.

So, what about Jesus in the story? We remember Peter declares Jesus to be the Christ, then eight days later Peter, Jesus, John, and James go up on a mountain to pray and Jesus is transfigured, bursting with glory. Elijah and Moses appear. Then everything returns to normal. They come down the mountain. Jesus gives another prediction of his betrayal, and then Luke tells us “He sets his face to go to Jerusalem.” (Luke 9:51, although all of this happens in the ninth chapter) Jesus continues teaching and healing as he travels toward Jerusalem. Huge crowds are still following him when some Pharisees come to warn Jesus of Herod Antipas’ intention to kill him. From the 13th chapter of the Gospel of Luke, listen for the word of God.

At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to him, “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.’”

Recently NPR reflected on the 1970’s radio host, Joe Pyne. Like most hosts, he played music and entertained the audience with chatter between cuts. Because of his acerbic wit, his manager suggested he stop playing music and just talk. His show became filled with insults and unpleasantness. Joe Pyne was the first “shock jock.” But now there is a flood of demeaning behavior on radio, television, and real life. Belittling trash talk is the normal flow of things.

How society flows can make chaos. All around us, people are interacting in a flood of incivility. Sometimes a public episode is like a whirlwind of insults, breaking people and relationships apart. But more often there is an undercurrent of bad feelings, mistrust, and alienation, causing trepidation or at the very least a general sense of anxiety.

A similar situation happened in Jesus’ day. Little Judah was occupied by Rome; puppets like Herod Antipas were hell-bent on keeping whatever power they had. Peasants and poor shopkeepers were at the mercy of tax collectors; and every Jew was powerless against whatever any Roman soldier required of them. The one who had power over someone else was quite liable to use it, and harshly. Since huge crowds were following Jesus, treating him like a rock star, we shouldn’t be surprised that Herod Antipas was threatened. Herod and his ilk were focused on doing whatever it took to keep their power. A popular leader like Jesus would not to be tolerated for long.

Throughout history, people in power often try to keep their power by squashing their opponents, demeaning any who speak against them, and making sure waves of criticism roll over everyone, so the only way for people to keep their heads above water is to agree with those in power. We’ve seen people become bullies when they get a little power. Landlords raise rents, because they can; big business raises prices on daily necessities; corporate bosses intimidate lower-level workers. Recent society has frothed up a whole flood of selfishness allowing much of society to flow with meanness and incivility, until it feels normal. The way of society surges into a flood of malevolence.

So no wonder Jesus resists society’s current. His way of living stands against the flow of self-centered meanness. Jesus’ teachings focus on compassion and kindness and generosity, which flow from the love of God. Think of how Jesus moved in his travels. Heading into Jericho, a blind beggar calls out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” So Jesus stops, interacts with him, treats him as a person of value, and heals him. (Luke 18:35-43) He comfortably stops his journey to interact with a beggar as a person. We know these stories. The weakest get his attention. A bent woman doesn’t even ask for healing, yet Jesus sees her with compassion and heals her. Ten lepers, one of whom is an outcast Samaritan, are healed.

Yet Jesus also values those who are not considered the least. Jesus has what could have been a life-changing conversation with the rich ruler, one who was caught in the current of “get as much as you can for yourself.” Jesus calls him to get out of that deadly undertow; sell his many possessions and give to the poor. But sadly, the man could not. On another occasion, however, in passing a tax collector, a wealthy, untrustworthy, person caught in the “get as much as you can for yourself” current, Jesus calls him to follow and he immediately leaves the tax table, steps out of the destructive current of the surrounding society and into the presence of Jesus. (Luke 5:27-32). When Jesus interacts with people or tells parables, he is calling anyone who will listen to recognize the value of each person, which means especially the outsiders, the least, the persons with leprosy, Samaritans, anyone who is lost. In his teaching and his acts of loving generosity, Jesus is demonstrating resistance to society’s unpleasant flow.

But then, Jesus creates a holy flow. The teachings of Jesus create a current of God’s love which embraces everyone. Jesus yearns for every person to be included into the safety of his presence. He gives us an image of a mother hen desiring to gather her chicks beneath her sheltering wings. Scripture in both Testaments shows God wanting to protect all of us beneath her sheltering wings.

But then I felt the need to look it up and I found that if a fox, like Herod Antipas, comes prowling around a chicken yard, the mother hen gives a specific emergency warning call and the chicks actually scatter and hide, because Mom is going to face the fox. She will puff up and open her wings and flap them mightily, fully aware a fox might take her down. But it gives her chicks time to get absolutely quiet and well hidden. If her antics cause the fox to slither away until it can get the chicks alone, the hen gives a different call, and chicks come peeping and scurrying right to her, which is a good time for them to be gathered under her wings.

The image does appear a lot like Jesus. He would die for us. But he also calls us to enter his embrace. I don’t know if hens’ wings create a current drawing chicks in but if so, that is a current we should all want to enter. Jesus’ teachings show us how to move, how to enter a holy flow, we might say. After all, the earliest name for Jesus’ followers was “people of the Way.” Jesus taught a way to live. So, we take care of the least; spread kindness all around; pray for our enemies while working on loving them. Following Jesus in these ways means we are moving with the flow of God’s purposes, which is a great thing because God’s ultimate purpose is for us all to be together living according to the ways of Jesus. Scripture calls the ultimate gathering: the Kingdom or Realm of God, or the Eschatological Banquet. Dr. King, Bishop Barber, and lots of other folks call it The Beloved Community. A future gathering together under the wings of our Heavenly Mother promises whatever caused chaos, whatever separated us, whatever had us at each other’s throats, will be healed. The gathering means all ruptures to human community will be mended. And we will all flow into the ways of God together.