Meditation for 7 July 2010
The Rev. Peter A. Munson
Matthew 23:37

37“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!”

Stubbornness vs. Sacrifice

When I lived in Dominica in the 1980’s, my Peace Corps buddy, Alan, and I rented a small house. The neighbors’ chickens were often in and out of our little yard, and their roosters sometimes roosted in a tree just outside one of our windows. (This is when I learned that the first cockcrow of the morning was actually in the middle of the night, and I have funny memories of Alan going out in the darkness and trying to get the rooster to shut up.) Any number of times, I also witnessed exactly the kind of scene that Jesus describes in the verse quoted above. The baby chicks would be spread out helter-skelter all over the yard, and something would happen – a dog would come by, or several children, or there would be some sort of unexpected loud noise – and the next thing you knew, all those chicks would disappear under the mother hen’s wings. Just like that, they were gone. You wouldn’t see them at all! And then, a few seconds later, with the danger past, they would pop out – maybe five or six of them – and they’d be running in all directions once again.

The mother hen’s wings never seemed that big to me when I watched her hunt and peck her way around the yard. But suddenly, when the need arose, those wings seemed to stretch and get bigger, and – whoosh! – those chicks had disappeared into safety.

Jesus’ lament over Jerusalem is the very lament that God the Father has, I’m sure, whenever people are so stubborn that they decide that they have no need for God – whether it be for God’s protection, God’s wisdom, or God’s guidance. Whenever we think that we know all there is to know or act as if we are the center of the universe, whenever we put heavy burdens on other people (as the Pharisees did) or are super-critical of others, the risen Jesus says once again, “How often have I desired to gather you together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing.” When we are not willing to let God protect us, when we are not willing to let God guide us, when we are not willing to even let God into our lives, God allows the consequences of those decisions to fall upon us. But God does not gloat in those times. God mourns. God suffers. God laments our actions. But God does not gloat.

As I thought about our stubborn ways, what I noticed was the Holy Spirit leading me to think about sacrifice and service. I think that often our stubbornness has to do with the fact that we want to be in control. At times we think, “No one is going to tell me what to do!” Not even God. Even if God is trying to show us that some sacrifice on our part would be for the greater good, we can be rebellious, stubborn, and – yes – sinful.

But here’s the thing. No person can become a great person of faith without having become acquainted with sacrifice and service. No church can be great without having become acquainted with sacrifice and service. No company can be great without having become acquainted with sacrifice and service. And no nation can become great, or remain great, without having become acquainted with sacrifice and service.

“For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:45) None of us can serve, none of us can love, none of us can “give our lives” without experiencing some kind of sacrifice.

I’ve been thinking quite a bit about this continuing-to-leak BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. What has it been – two months going on three? And I can certainly get angry that this has happened, and I can get even angrier that all the engineers and scientists can’t seem to put their heads together and stop the leak – still! But there are some deeper truths in all of this, and here are a few of them:

Oil companies are drilling more frequently offshore now because most of the “easy oil” has been tapped and pumped out already.

Oil companies keep drilling in more places because the demand for oil is still high.

I drive lots of places and use lots of products made from oil. Therefore, I am part of the problem. Therefore, I am partly responsible for the oil spill in the Gulf – based on the way that I choose to live my life.

So the question arises: Am I willing to make any sacrifices for the greater good? In this case, for the greater good of the planet that we live on and which sustains us. Am I willing to do more than just serve my family, friends, and the people of St. Ambrose? Am I willing to serve the planet? Am I willing to serve future generations? And if so, what am I willing to give up – now, today – even though it’s not Lent (!), but more than three months since Lent ended. (In other words, am I only willing to make sacrifices during one 40-day period of the year?)

Let’s be honest. There are at least some things that I can do, that won’t involve a huge sacrifice on my part, but which would make a huge difference if we all did them.

I can stop buying drinking water in plastic water bottles. If these are needed at all, let them be shipped to parts of the world where they are needed for emergency relief efforts. I can drink from a cup, or from my own water bottle that I purchase and re-use every day.

I can refuse the plastic bags that are offered for bagging up my groceries, every time that I go to the grocery store. For that matter, I can leave reusable bags in my car, and take them into whatever store I happen to be going into, and develop the habit of using them over and over again.

I can carpool whenever possible, and plan my day so that I combine errands and avoid unnecessary driving. And the next time – whenever it is – that I purchase a car, I can purchase the most fuel-efficient car that I can afford. That is, I can down-size my car.

There are many other things that I can do, if I just take the time to think about it, and then spend three weeks – isn’t that how long the experts say it takes? – to develop a new habit.

What really breaks God’s heart, though, is when we walk away from Him and act like we don’t need His help, when we act as if we know it all and have everything figured out. God is with us, as close as a mother hen to her chicks. And like a chick who thinks it no longer has a need for its mother, we forget about God… and the teachings of God… at our own peril.