Sermon – The Fox and the Hen Rev. Sandy Lacey March 16, 2025
Today’s passage in Luke is one of those enigmatic Scriptures that make us scratch our heads or lift our eyebrows. Curious and maybe a little surprising – we are left asking questions with this one. When that happens, it is often best to look at the context of the passage. What happened before? What happens after? Who is the author speaking to? Where is the speaker – is the speaker in a Jewish area or a Gentile area? What is the author’s main emphasis throughout the Gospel or letter? To answer some of those questions, we begin with what we know. We know that we are in the Gospel of Luke this lectionary cycle and we know that Luke is well educated. We know that Luke is more inclusive in this Gospel account of Jesus’ ministry – more inclusive of women and Gentiles. We know that Luke’s Jesus seems to be especially concerned about the poor and marginalized in his Gospel account. We know that Luke’s Jesus centers everything he does through prayer. We know that Luke has two volumes – the Gospel account and the Acts account. We also know that like the other Gospel accounts, Jesus is often in confrontation with the religious leaders and scholars of the day. So, we have a brief picture of the larger context of Luke.
Next, we know that before today’s passage, Jesus had just been talking about the fact that many will try to enter the Kingdom of God but will be unable to, because the door is narrow and the “owner of the house” will not allow entrance even to those he “ate and drank with and those he taught in their streets.” Jesus says, “Some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.” It was a not-so-subtle slap in the face to the Pharisees – the religious leaders of the day. They were concerned, you see, because Jesus was doing the “wrong” things like performing healings on the Sabbath, and he has been saying the “wrong” things by insisting God cares about the poor and marginalized just as much as he cares about religious, pious people. Jesus accused the religious leaders of being hypocrites because they say one thing while they do something else, and they seem to care more about the “rules” than the people. Jesus is not winning friends in high places in his home territory of Galilee. So, we cannot really blame the Pharisees for trying to “encourage” his departure by warning him about Herod’s interest in him.
Another interesting note in our passage today is the identification of Herod. This is not the awful King Herod that was king during the time of Jesus’ birth. You remember the one whose paranoia about the wise men’s claim that a new king was born in Bethlehem prompted him to kill all the Hebrew children 2 years of age and under. He was a puppet of the Roman Empire, appointed by them to help control the Hebrew people. No, this was not that Herod, but his son, Herod Antipas. He was not much better than his father – propped up and in collusion with the occupying Romans. It was his purpose to keep his place and his wealth and to keep the peace – the Pax Romana (peace in the sense that everyone was to remain in their place.) Jesus did not have much use for Herod Antipas or the other Herodian leaders with him.
That is our back story, our context, to today’s passage. We also know that Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem, where he knows he will be killed, because that is what power does when power feels threatened. When the religious leaders, Pharisees, inform Jesus that Herod is looking for him to kill him; Jesus responds in a rather enigmatic way, “tell that fox that this is what I am doing today, this is what I will be doing tomorrow and the next day. I am heading to Jerusalem and don’t you know your history? Prophets cannot be killed outside of Jerusalem because that is where power lives. Oh, I wish I could gather my people there under my wing and protect them! But alas, I cannot because they refuse. Therefore, they will be left to their own devices until the Day of the Lord.” This passage is a lament for what Jesus remembers about Jerusalem’s past and for what Jesus sees in Jerusalem’s future.
So why did Jesus call Herod Antipas a fox? Many of us have heard an expression about foxes: “to put so and so in charge is like having a fox guard a henhouse.” Foxes are cunning and unscrupulous creatures; they will never guard and protect a hen house. If allowed to be in a hen house, the fox will scatter the hens and eat their young. Hens in our Scripture reading, however, gather their young and protect them, to the best of their ability. There is a world of difference between a fox and a hen. Herod Antipas was a fox, and I suspect Jesus thought the religious leaders had some similar traits to that fox. Scripture is fond of images of gathering, such as a shepherd that watches over the sheep to guard and protect them and will even find them when they are lost. Likewise, a bird – an Eagle or a hen – spreads its wings or pinions to gather and protect. Think about the “lost” parables that Jesus tells – the coin, the sheep, the son – and how in the story the characters search and find, wait, and restore. These images are prevalent in both the Old and New Testament and they should serve to remind us that God is always about the business of searching and gathering.
Fox-like scattering, however, is very different. Scattering in the context of religious faith looks like pushing out, excluding, separating, creating havoc, much like a fox in a henhouse. Religious leaders in Jesus’ day were characterized not as gatherers, but as scatterers. Jesus said our purpose is to share the Good News of God’s love for everyone – our purpose is to bring in and gather. Things have not changed much since Jesus’ day. Many times over the years, the institution of Christianity has had its own difficulty gathering. We like to clearly define things, get our theology straight, and figure out who is in and who is out. As a consequence of focusing on setting boundaries and instituting rules, we have been pretty good at scattering, rather than gathering. Many times, we look more like foxes than hens.
Jesus does not interrupt his ministry plan when he is warned of Herod’s interest. Instead, Jesus laments that the city seat of power (Jerusalem) has been taken over by those who scatter and lead the people astray. Does Jesus already know that the people in that city will one day soon welcome him in with a parade, only to demand he be crucified just a few short days later? Does Jesus already know what will happen? Worst of all, we hear him say in this passage what I believe is the scariest thing to hear in all of Scripture – “your house is left to you” – in other words, God has given you over to your own desires. Jerusalem is given over to the desires of its heart, to its own destruction. Every day I pray that God does not leave this country/this state/this city to what appears to be the self-serving desires of our heart. (Because those desires can look an awful lot like a fox in a henhouse.)
As we read this passage and seek to apply it to our time and place, we are left with some questions. How do we respond in the face of the Herods of our day who use fear tactics that try to derail our ministry or stunt it? Jesus responded with a taunt of his own. We read in the Psalm passage today that we are encouraged to remember who we are and to whom we belong. We are encouraged to not take matters into our own hands, but to wait on the Lord. I am reminded of the courage of African Americans as they sang slave songs that point beyond a current horrible time to a new time, a belief that God is working in the awful to accomplish something in the future that is good and right. That is the kind of hope to which we cling – always watching for the gathering hen who covers us. Maybe we can learn from their example – to slyly sing our hope into being.
Barbara Brown Taylor has a wonderful reflection on our gospel passage…she says:[1] “If you have ever loved someone and you could not protect them, then you understand the depth of Jesus’s lament. All you can do….is open your arms. You cannot make anyone walk into them. Meanwhile, this is the most vulnerable posture in the world –wings spread, breast exposed — but if you mean what you say, then this is how you stand. Given the number of animals available, it is curious that Jesus chooses a hen. Where is the biblical precedent for that? What about the mighty eagle of Exodus, or Hosea’s stealthy leopard? What about the proud lion of Judah, mowing down his enemies with a roar? Compared to any of those, a mother hen does not inspire much confidence. No wonder some of the chicks decided to go with the fox. But a hen is what Jesus chooses, which — if you think about it –is pretty typical of him. He is always turning things upside down, so that children and peasants wind up on top while kings and scholars land on the bottom. He is always wrecking our expectations of how things should turn out by giving prizes to losers and paying the last first. So, of course, he chooses a chicken for his image which is about as far from a fox as you can get. That way the options become very clear: you can live by licking your chops or you can die protecting the chicks. Jesus won’t be king of the jungle in this or any other story. What he will be is a mother hen, who stands between the chicks and those who mean to do them harm. If the fox wants them, he will have to kill her first. Which he does, as it turns out. He slides up on her one night in the yard (read garden) while all the babies (read disciples) are asleep. When her cry wakens them…. they scatter. She dies the next day where both foxes and chickens can see her — wings spread, breast exposed — without a single chick beneath her feathers. It breaks her heart, but it does not change a thing. If you mean what you say, then this is how you stand…offering yourself in defense of those who cannot defend themselves.” Her words inspire reflection – both personally and as a congregation. Her words are food for the imagination and the heart. And we will need that nourishment, for there is work to be done. For the work at hand, we need good imagination, and we need a good heart filled with courage. As the welcoming church on the river, let us choose to be more like a hen than a fox. And as Rodney Clapp says, “the foxes are not in control as much as they think they are.”[2] Thanks be to God! AMEN. [1] Barbara Brown Taylor, “As a Hen Gathers Her Brood.” This article appeared in The Christian Century, February 25, 1986, page 201; copyright by the Christian Century Foundation and used by permission. Current articles and subscription information can be found at <www.christiancentury.org/> www.christiancentury.org. This material was prepared for Religion Online by Ted & Winnie Brock. 2 Rodney Clap, “Pastoral Perspective” in Feasting on the Word: Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary, Year C, Volume 2. (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2009.) P. 72.
Today’s passage in Luke is one of those enigmatic Scriptures that make us scratch our heads or lift our eyebrows. Curious and maybe a little surprising – we are left asking questions with this one. When that happens, it is often best to look at the context of the passage. What happened before? What happens after? Who is the author speaking to? Where is the speaker – is the speaker in a Jewish area or a Gentile area? What is the author’s main emphasis throughout the Gospel or letter? To answer some of those questions, we begin with what we know. We know that we are in the Gospel of Luke this lectionary cycle and we know that Luke is well educated. We know that Luke is more inclusive in this Gospel account of Jesus’ ministry – more inclusive of women and Gentiles. We know that Luke’s Jesus seems to be especially concerned about the poor and marginalized in his Gospel account. We know that Luke’s Jesus centers everything he does through prayer. We know that Luke has two volumes – the Gospel account and the Acts account. We also know that like the other Gospel accounts, Jesus is often in confrontation with the religious leaders and scholars of the day. So, we have a brief picture of the larger context of Luke.
Next, we know that before today’s passage, Jesus had just been talking about the fact that many will try to enter the Kingdom of God but will be unable to, because the door is narrow and the “owner of the house” will not allow entrance even to those he “ate and drank with and those he taught in their streets.” Jesus says, “Some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.” It was a not-so-subtle slap in the face to the Pharisees – the religious leaders of the day. They were concerned, you see, because Jesus was doing the “wrong” things like performing healings on the Sabbath, and he has been saying the “wrong” things by insisting God cares about the poor and marginalized just as much as he cares about religious, pious people. Jesus accused the religious leaders of being hypocrites because they say one thing while they do something else, and they seem to care more about the “rules” than the people. Jesus is not winning friends in high places in his home territory of Galilee. So, we cannot really blame the Pharisees for trying to “encourage” his departure by warning him about Herod’s interest in him.
Another interesting note in our passage today is the identification of Herod. This is not the awful King Herod that was king during the time of Jesus’ birth. You remember the one whose paranoia about the wise men’s claim that a new king was born in Bethlehem prompted him to kill all the Hebrew children 2 years of age and under. He was a puppet of the Roman Empire, appointed by them to help control the Hebrew people. No, this was not that Herod, but his son, Herod Antipas. He was not much better than his father – propped up and in collusion with the occupying Romans. It was his purpose to keep his place and his wealth and to keep the peace – the Pax Romana (peace in the sense that everyone was to remain in their place.) Jesus did not have much use for Herod Antipas or the other Herodian leaders with him.
That is our back story, our context, to today’s passage. We also know that Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem, where he knows he will be killed, because that is what power does when power feels threatened. When the religious leaders, Pharisees, inform Jesus that Herod is looking for him to kill him; Jesus responds in a rather enigmatic way, “tell that fox that this is what I am doing today, this is what I will be doing tomorrow and the next day. I am heading to Jerusalem and don’t you know your history? Prophets cannot be killed outside of Jerusalem because that is where power lives. Oh, I wish I could gather my people there under my wing and protect them! But alas, I cannot because they refuse. Therefore, they will be left to their own devices until the Day of the Lord.” This passage is a lament for what Jesus remembers about Jerusalem’s past and for what Jesus sees in Jerusalem’s future.
So why did Jesus call Herod Antipas a fox? Many of us have heard an expression about foxes: “to put so and so in charge is like having a fox guard a henhouse.” Foxes are cunning and unscrupulous creatures; they will never guard and protect a hen house. If allowed to be in a hen house, the fox will scatter the hens and eat their young. Hens in our Scripture reading, however, gather their young and protect them, to the best of their ability. There is a world of difference between a fox and a hen. Herod Antipas was a fox, and I suspect Jesus thought the religious leaders had some similar traits to that fox. Scripture is fond of images of gathering, such as a shepherd that watches over the sheep to guard and protect them and will even find them when they are lost. Likewise, a bird – an Eagle or a hen – spreads its wings or pinions to gather and protect. Think about the “lost” parables that Jesus tells – the coin, the sheep, the son – and how in the story the characters search and find, wait, and restore. These images are prevalent in both the Old and New Testament and they should serve to remind us that God is always about the business of searching and gathering.
Fox-like scattering, however, is very different. Scattering in the context of religious faith looks like pushing out, excluding, separating, creating havoc, much like a fox in a henhouse. Religious leaders in Jesus’ day were characterized not as gatherers, but as scatterers. Jesus said our purpose is to share the Good News of God’s love for everyone – our purpose is to bring in and gather. Things have not changed much since Jesus’ day. Many times over the years, the institution of Christianity has had its own difficulty gathering. We like to clearly define things, get our theology straight, and figure out who is in and who is out. As a consequence of focusing on setting boundaries and instituting rules, we have been pretty good at scattering, rather than gathering. Many times, we look more like foxes than hens.
Jesus does not interrupt his ministry plan when he is warned of Herod’s interest. Instead, Jesus laments that the city seat of power (Jerusalem) has been taken over by those who scatter and lead the people astray. Does Jesus already know that the people in that city will one day soon welcome him in with a parade, only to demand he be crucified just a few short days later? Does Jesus already know what will happen? Worst of all, we hear him say in this passage what I believe is the scariest thing to hear in all of Scripture – “your house is left to you” – in other words, God has given you over to your own desires. Jerusalem is given over to the desires of its heart, to its own destruction. Every day I pray that God does not leave this country/this state/this city to what appears to be the self-serving desires of our heart. (Because those desires can look an awful lot like a fox in a henhouse.)
As we read this passage and seek to apply it to our time and place, we are left with some questions. How do we respond in the face of the Herods of our day who use fear tactics that try to derail our ministry or stunt it? Jesus responded with a taunt of his own. We read in the Psalm passage today that we are encouraged to remember who we are and to whom we belong. We are encouraged to not take matters into our own hands, but to wait on the Lord. I am reminded of the courage of African Americans as they sang slave songs that point beyond a current horrible time to a new time, a belief that God is working in the awful to accomplish something in the future that is good and right. That is the kind of hope to which we cling – always watching for the gathering hen who covers us. Maybe we can learn from their example – to slyly sing our hope into being.
Barbara Brown Taylor has a wonderful reflection on our gospel passage…she says:[1] “If you have ever loved someone and you could not protect them, then you understand the depth of Jesus’s lament. All you can do….is open your arms. You cannot make anyone walk into them. Meanwhile, this is the most vulnerable posture in the world –wings spread, breast exposed — but if you mean what you say, then this is how you stand. Given the number of animals available, it is curious that Jesus chooses a hen. Where is the biblical precedent for that? What about the mighty eagle of Exodus, or Hosea’s stealthy leopard? What about the proud lion of Judah, mowing down his enemies with a roar? Compared to any of those, a mother hen does not inspire much confidence. No wonder some of the chicks decided to go with the fox. But a hen is what Jesus chooses, which — if you think about it –is pretty typical of him. He is always turning things upside down, so that children and peasants wind up on top while kings and scholars land on the bottom. He is always wrecking our expectations of how things should turn out by giving prizes to losers and paying the last first. So, of course, he chooses a chicken for his image which is about as far from a fox as you can get. That way the options become very clear: you can live by licking your chops or you can die protecting the chicks. Jesus won’t be king of the jungle in this or any other story. What he will be is a mother hen, who stands between the chicks and those who mean to do them harm. If the fox wants them, he will have to kill her first. Which he does, as it turns out. He slides up on her one night in the yard (read garden) while all the babies (read disciples) are asleep. When her cry wakens them…. they scatter. She dies the next day where both foxes and chickens can see her — wings spread, breast exposed — without a single chick beneath her feathers. It breaks her heart, but it does not change a thing. If you mean what you say, then this is how you stand…offering yourself in defense of those who cannot defend themselves.” Her words inspire reflection – both personally and as a congregation. Her words are food for the imagination and the heart. And we will need that nourishment, for there is work to be done. For the work at hand, we need good imagination, and we need a good heart filled with courage. As the welcoming church on the river, let us choose to be more like a hen than a fox. And as Rodney Clapp says, “the foxes are not in control as much as they think they are.”[2] Thanks be to God! AMEN. [1] Barbara Brown Taylor, “As a Hen Gathers Her Brood.” This article appeared in The Christian Century, February 25, 1986, page 201; copyright by the Christian Century Foundation and used by permission. Current articles and subscription information can be found at <www.christiancentury.org/> www.christiancentury.org. This material was prepared for Religion Online by Ted & Winnie Brock. 2 Rodney Clap, “Pastoral Perspective” in Feasting on the Word: Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary, Year C, Volume 2. (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2009.) P. 72.
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[1] Barbara Brown Taylor, “As a Hen Gathers Her Brood.” This article appeared in The Christian Century, February 25, 1986, page 201; copyright by the Christian Century Foundation and used by permission. Current articles and subscription information can be found at <www.christiancentury.org/> www.christiancentury.org. This material was prepared for Religion Online by Ted & Winnie Brock.
[2] Rodney Clap, “Pastoral Perspective” in Feasting on the Word: Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary, Year C, Volume 2. (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2009.) P. 72.