Last weekend Tropical Cyclone Alfred had a severe impact on South-East Queensland and Northern New South Wales. There were plenty of pictures and videos of high winds, massive waves, pelting rain, flooding rivers and the damage which resulted from these extreme storm conditions. Some of the more amazing images showed people venturing out into the waves at the beaches to watch the massive swell or even surf the enormous waves.
At the same time, officials were pleading with people not to go out into the storm. They knew the dangers that come with cyclonic conditions, high winds and large waves, so instead of going outside to risk the dangers the cyclone caused, they were pleading that people get inside to shelter from the storm in safety.
We can hear echoes of their call for people to go where it’s safe in Jesus’ words in Luke 13:31-35. The people of Jerusalem weren’t facing a cyclone, but they still faced plenty of other dangers which were harmful to their bodies, minds and spirits. Jesus grieves over the people of Jerusalem, and in fact all people, as he wants them to come to him to find shelter, safety and security under his protection.
Jesus uses the image of a mother hen gathering her chicks under her wings to describe his desire to gather God’s people together under his protective love. People who own chooks will know that mother hens want to protect her young, to keep them safe and shelter them from anything that might be a danger to them. It is an image which communicates warmth and security as the chicks huddle beneath the feathers of their mother’s wings. It also communicates self-sacrifice as the mother hen puts her own life at risk to keep her young safe if there is a threat of approaching danger.
Jesus wants to keep us safe from anything and everything that might threaten our bodies, minds or spirits, no matter how great or small that danger might be. He wants to gather us together into the warmth and security of his love as we live in relationship with him and with each other as people he loves and cares for. Jesus portrays himself as a mother hen, giving his life for us so we can be secure and safe from the dangers of sin, death and the power of darkness in our lives. In so many ways, thinking of Jesus as a mother chook protecting us, his chicks, from danger and keeping us safe from anything that might threaten us is a beautiful image of God’s love for us in Jesus’ life, death and resurrection.
While Jesus wants to protect and shelter his people under the warmth of his love, he recognises that the people won’t let him. As we saw last week in the winds and waves of Tropical Cyclone Alfred, there is something in human nature that likes to flirt with danger, which often rejects calls to return to safety, or which prefers to go our own way no matter what the risks or dangers might be. While Jesus is sad over the inhabitants of Jerusalem rejecting his appeal to return to the safety and warmth of his love for them, two thousand years later, we can often do the same.
Jesus’ call to return to the safety, security and warmth which his love brings is a call to faith, to trust him in the dangers and threats we face. Whether those threats or dangers are large like a cyclone or drought, or if they are smaller things that happen during our days, Jesus asks us to trust his love for us like a chick trusts the love of its mother as it returns to the safety under her wings. Jesus is asking us to trust that his love is greater than anything that might be a threat or danger to our wellbeing by coming to him in faith as our first option rather than our last resort. He pleads with us to look for everything we need for our bodies, minds or spirits in him and his infinite and perfect love for us. As our big mother chook, Jesus has everything we need to live in safety, security, warmth and comfort. Instead of going our own way and risking everything in the dangers and threats of life, Jesus wants us to learn to trust him and his love for us so we can find everything we need in him.
As we find safety, security, protection and warmth under the wings of Jesus’ love for us, he gathers us with others who also shelter under his love. He brings us into relationship with the other chicks of the mother hen who are gathered under her wings and into community with them. We are not gathered in isolation from others but together with each other. This gives us the opportunity to support each other, take care of each other, and encourage each other as we find shelter together under the wings of Jesus’ love for us. By gathering us together in his love, we can find warmth together in our relationships with each other as the Holy Spirit unites in the love Jesus has for us and we extend that same love to others.
We probably all know people who are like the people of Jerusalem, who go their own way and have wandered away from Jesus’ love for them. Jesus didn’t criticise the people of Jerusalem for refusing to find shelter under his wings. He didn’t get angry at them or use threats to bring them back to him. Instead, he loved them by giving his life for them. When we know people who have wandered away from Jesus, sometimes the best thing we can do is provide a warm, supportive community which puts into practice the 1 Corinthians 13 kind of love we find under the shelter of Jesus’ wings. When we model the benefits of living under the wings of Jesus’ love to others, when others can see the warmth, safety and security we find under Jesus’ wings and in community with each other, they will be attracted to what Jesus gives us and hopefully come back to him to find shelter, security, warmth and protection with us through faith in him.
If you had been in South-East Queensland last weekend as Tropical Cyclone Alfred approached, would you have been out in the wind and the waves, or finding shelter and safety at home? We can give thanks that the cyclone didn’t hit the towns and cities in its path with its full force, and that people were spared even more destruction and devastation than they have experienced. We all face threats or dangers in our lives which can impact our wellbeing. We don’t have to face them on our own or battle them individually. Jesus wants to gather us under the safety, protection and warmth of his love for us like a mother chook wants to gather her chicks. When we come to him in faith, trusting in his death and resurrection for us, not only will we find security, safety and protection, but we can also invite others to experience the warmth and security we find through faith in Jesus.
More to think about or discuss:
- If you were in South-East Queensland when TC Alfred hit, do you think you would have been out in the storm or somewhere safe? Why would you have done that?
- Where do you look for safety or protection when you face dangers or troubles in your life? Do they give you the security you hope for? How can faith in Jesus help us find the safety, security or protection we might be looking for?
- How can gathering with others under the wings of Jesus’ love for us help us to invite others to gather with us?
Pastor Eugene Online 
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