As we stepped through the doorway into the night, the old woman stopped on the sidewalk, looked up, took a deep…almost cleansing sort of breath…and said softly to herself, “The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom then shall I fear.”
“Psalm 27?” I asked.
“When I was battling cancer,” she explained, “I was in the part of the hospital that faced other buildings. A brick wall was the view from my window. But, on clear nights, whenever I was in pain and feeling alone, I would look out the window and see the stars above that brick wall. The stars would remind me of Psalm 27. “The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom then shall I fear.” The stars reminded me that I was not alone in my fear. The stars made me feel better. They made me feel like God had not forgotten me. I don’t know. Maybe I’m just a crazy old lady, but it helped me.”
If she was crazy, she was no crazier than the Lord. After-all, it is God who brings the patriarch of our faith, Abram, outside and shows him the stars. Abram too had been in distress because he had no children of his own. He and Sarai were getting old, and it was disheartening. To whom would he pass on his legacy? Would a distant relative be heir to all that he had worked so hard to build?
God heard Abram’s distress, took him outside, and then directed him to look at the stars. “’Look toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them.’ Then the Lord said to him, ‘So shall your descendants be.’ And he believed the Lord; and the Lord reckoned it to him as righteousness.”
Sometimes, there is nothing elaborate about the faith at all. Sometimes, God paints the sky with bright specks in order to remind us that we are not alone. Whatever tragedy or struggle has befallen our life, it cannot possibly compete with an entire universe wrapped around us like a blanket, making us feel remembered and safe.
In a similar way, just yesterday, God painted our March world with snow. Before the winds picked up and made it unbearable, there was a short stretch of time where God wrapped us in a white blanket of compete stillness, peace, and beauty. “Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow” a friend remarked as pictures of the peaceful scene were shared. Though the snow caused some of us to share uncharitable words, God used the peaceful scene and the snow to cleanse this friend’s heart and to revive her soul.
God does that you know. God uses the ordinary to deliver the extraordinary all of the time. Jesus talks about tiny seeds being like the kingdom of God. “The Kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed” (Matthew 13:31). And when I see a seed, I think about this seed of faith that the Lord grows within us.
Beautiful, juicy, and cherished apples are used to denote God’s love and devotion. “Keep me as the apple of your eye” (Psalm 17:8). And, when I see an apple I am reminded that I am cherished by God.
And, as any faithful follower of Jesus knows, simple bread and wine are given the honor of carrying the grace of God through Jesus Christ. “Then he took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’ And he did the same with the cup after supper, saying, ‘This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood’” (Luke 22:19-20). And, when I taste the goodness of the Lord, I also taste the grace of the one who would die for me.
As I said, God uses the ordinary to deliver God’s extraordinary message all of the time. The Bible even refers to God as a chicken. That one, I have to admit, took me a little off guard the first time I heard it. Whenever I have heard Psalm 17: 8 talk about God hiding us under the shadow of God’s wing, I have always pictured a majestic bird such as an eagle. And, maybe, the Psalmist was thinking about a majestic creature such as an eagle, but apparently Jesus was thinking more along the lines of a chicken.
“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!” Jesus declares.
One strongest images Jesus can think up in order to describe his deep desire that Jerusalem and all humanity fall under his protection is the image of a chicken. Specifically, he describes a hen gathering her chicks under the shelter of her wings.
I readily admit that I did not really understand the power of this chicken image until I saw a photograph from India that shows a hen doing this exact thing. The photo shows the rains of the monsoon season completely soaking the area, including a mother hen. But, in the middle of this rain soaked scene you see five or six young chicks sheltering under the warmth and dry protection of their mother’s wing. The mother bears it all for her young.
It gets me to thinking about Jesus and the journey he is taking to the cross. Already journeying his way to his cross in Jerusalem, Jesus will soon open wide his own arms and bear it all in order to shelter and protect a sinful world, including you and me. “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom” (Luke 23:42).
The mother chick looks miserable, yet she does what it takes to protect her young. On the cross, Jesus is well beyond miserable as he gasps his last breaths, yet he does what it takes to protect his own. He is the embodiment of God’s promise in Isaiah 41: “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand” (Is 41:10).
I guess I will never look at a chicken in the same way. Like the stars of the sky and the pure, white snow; like the tiny seeds and the apple of the Lord’s eye; like the bread and the wine being the body and the blood all lead me to remember the Lord, so too will the mother hen who protects her young. After-all, God uses the ordinary to deliver God’s extraordinary message all of the time.
And, quite frankly, we need such down to earth reminders of the goodness of the Lord. In the same way that Jesus complains about Jerusalem not listening to the prophets and not taking the Lord seriously, we too find it all too easy to forget. The daily struggles of life makes it so easy to forget the promises of the Lord. Just as Abram kept forgetting the Lord’s promise to give him an heir, we too forget the Lord’s promises and presence.
Sometimes, I wonder if sin is nothing more than forgetting; forgetting God’s laws; forgetting God’s love; forgetting to love; forgetting that we are not alone; forgetting that we do not need to make something great of ourselves…we are already created great and good. Sometimes, I wonder if sin is nothing more than forgetting, and if sin is forgetting, then the daily salvation that the Lord provides is the opportunity to remember.
Look at the stars and remember that “The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom then shall I fear.” Look at the hen and remember how Jesus desires to gather you and me together. Look, and see, and remember that the Lord is good.
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