Jesus not Wealth

I grew up on a farm. We bought our chicks from a brooder, but occasionally an old cluck would hatch a brood of her own. It was fun to watch the chicks play in the yard, always within running distance of mother hen. We knew when danger was near when the chicks ran to mamma and dove under her outstretched wings.

I am saddened by this image which Jesus paints. Danger is coming upon God’s people, danger which is ignored and denied. Jesus warns them, offers them a way that will lead to life, but they refuse. Jesus’ wings are outstretched, but the chicks run the other way.

We, without doubt, would have-and do-take refuge under Jesus’ wings. Or do we? I often wonder. We, who live in houses that would house half a village, who waste more food in a day than some people eat in a week, who spend more on a car than some people make in several years, all the while millions are dying of hunger and poverty-related disease each day. Have we taken refuge? I can’t help but think of that needle with its tiny eye.

Lent gives us a time to re-examine our priorities.

Loving God, may we depend upon you, not our wealth. Amen. — DAB