Jesus--The Rejected Lover Series

Inside this chapel is a beautiful mosaic that captures this image. You can see a hen with her wings outstretched with little chicks underneath. The Latin inscription around the mosaic is verse 34, and the last words “but you were not willing” are written in red. It’s as if Jesus is still standing over Jerusalem with His arms of love outstretched and the Jews and Palestinians are unwilling to accept His love. Jerusalem will never have peace until they acknowledge the Prince of Peace.

Now, I must admit I have never raised chickens, and maybe some of you have, so you may know more about chickens than I do. But you must remember I’m a Baptist preacher, I’ve been eating fried chicken for the past 30 years–so I’m somewhat of an expert! Preachers love chicken. In fact, someone once said a preacher’s belt is simply a leather fence around a chicken graveyard!

I heard about one unusual preacher who didn’t like chicken. He was doing a revival and eating in someone’s home every night. The first night, he was served chicken, as well as the second and third nights. All week long, that’s all he got. And he didn’t like chicken. On the last night, they brought out a big plate of chicken and asked him to say the blessing. By this time he was sick of chicken, so this is the blessing he prayed: “Lord, I’ve had it hot, I’ve had it cold; I’ve had it young; I’ve had it old; I’ve had it tender and I’ve had it tough; but thank you, Lord, I’ve had enough!”

But we can learn something about God by understanding a mother hen. Perhaps the greatest allegory ever written is “Pilgrim’s Progress” by John Bunyan. In it a man named Christian is on a journey and in one section he learns a lesson from a hen. This is what John Bunyan observed about a hen that can teach us something about God.

(1) A hen constantly calls her chicks

I have been around a chicken yard and heard them clucking, but I thought they were clucking just to hear themselves cluck. Bunyan said each hen has a distinctive cluck and clucks constantly so her chicks can find her. Her chicks recognize her call. Jesus is constantly calling us to Himself as well. He says, “Come unto me all of you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28) If we are wise, we will recognize and respond to the call of Jesus. Next, (2) A hen calls them to feed. In every chicken yard there is a clearly established “pecking order.” The most dominant chickens get the first chance at food. As you can imagine, little chicks are pretty far down the pecking order. A good mother hen will find some food and then call her chicks and then allow them to eat before she eats herself. In the same way, Jesus is constantly calling us to Himself and to His Word. The Bible says the Word of God is like milk, meat, and honey. We are to feed on it every day. Finally, Bunyan observed that (3) A hen shelters them from harm. As I studied for this message I was amazed to learn just how protective a hen is of her chicks. If a chicken hawk flies near the chicken yard, the hen will squawk furiously to call her chicks to settle under her wings. As the hawk swoops down, the hen will face the hawk and spread her wings even wider. Since the hen is too heavy for the hawk to carry, the hawk soon leaves–what courage!