Safe under the Lord’s wings

One night lightning struck the chicken coop and burned it to the ground. Ike arrived just in time to help his dad put out the last of the fire. The next morning as he and his father sorted through the wreckage, they came upon one hen lying dead near what had been the door of the hen house. Her top feathers were singed brown by the fire's heat, her neck limp. Ike bent down to pick up the dead hen. As he did the hen's four chicks came scurrying out from beneath her burnt body. The chicks survived because they were insulated by the shelter of the hen’s wings.

This is a picture of what our Lord does for us. Jesus said, “How often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings.” (Luke 13:34) God’s protection and salvation is often pictured in the Psalms as being under His protective wings.

Psalm 17:8 Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings

Psalm 57:1 Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me, for in you my soul takes refuge. I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings until the disaster has passed.

Psalm 61:4 I long to dwell in your tent forever and take refuge in the shelter of your wings.

Psalm 63:7 Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.

Psalm 91:4 He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.

The Lord has been clucking for millennia through prophets and priests, through evangelists and apostles, through the Law and Prophets, the Gospels and Epistles, through pastors, pulpits, teachers, classrooms, and missionaries. He calls, gathers and enlightens through His Means of Grace – His Gospel in Word and Sacraments.

Jesus is the mother hen. He begs us to come to Him. He pleads for us to leave a life of sin and selfishness. He invites us to come under His wings of salvation. With His wings spread He calls, summons, implores us to repent and return. To take refuge in Him. To receive His forgiveness and life in Holy Baptism, in the Holy Gospel and Holy Communion. Though we have so often rejected Him, still He comes for us. He offers us forgiveness and a new life. He calls, “Come, wash, hear, eat, drink my little chicks. Under me there is no danger. The Old Evil Foe cannot reach you here.”

Little chicks, find shelter under the wings of Jesus Christ, your mother hen.