A sermon by the Rev. Guillermo A. Arboleda, written for and delivered at All Saints' Episcopal Church, Tybee Island, GA, on Sunday, March 16, 2025, which is the Second Sunday in Lent (RCL Year C).
Primary Bible Reading
Luke 13:31-35
Some Pharisees came and said to Jesus, "Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you." He said to them, "Go and tell that fox for me, 'Listen, I am casting out demons and performing cures today and tomorrow, and on the third day I finish my work. Yet today, tomorrow, and the next day I must be on my way, because it is impossible for a prophet to be killed outside of Jerusalem.' 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! See, your house is left to you. And I tell you, you will not see me until the time comes when you say, 'Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.'"
“God” is Not a Boy’s Name
By the Rev. Guillermo A. Arboleda, Program Manager for New Starts, ELCA
A little less than a year ago, I had my first meeting with Deb, your Senior Warden, Deacon Susan, and Art and Katherine, your vergers. I came out here to talk in person about becoming part of the rotation of priests who fill in here at All Saints Episcopal Church during this interim period. I had just finished my tenure as the rector of St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church in Savannah and began my current call to remote, denominational ministry, which meant that I would be available sometimes on Sundays. It wasn’t exactly an interview, but it sort of was. We were feeling one another out to see whether or not this would be a good fit. I had visited All Saints before for clergy meetings and the occasional funeral, but I had not met most of the congregation.
But something caught my eye that made me think this would probably work. Outside the priest’s and deacon’s office, there was a sign that I now see every time I come to All Saints. It’s a bumper sticker that says, “‘God’ is not a boy’s name.” [PROP] Have you noticed this before? I had seen that same bumper sticker years ago, but never before in a church in Georgia.
I don’t usually like bumper-sticker theology, but as far as bumper stickers go, this is pretty good. “‘God’ is not a boy’s name.” What do you think that means? It’s a reminder of a classic Christian theological belief that has often been ignored. God is neither male nor female. God is genderless. Despite how often we refer to God in scripture and in our prayers as “he” and “him,” we don’t believe that God is literally male. In fact, Genesis teaches us that male and female sex and gender expressions are equally made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27). So if anything, God is both masculine and feminine, and everything else on the spectrum. The image of God transcends human gender.
So when we pray to God or talk about God, we don’t have to limit ourselves to masculine language or masculine images. In fact, we shouldn’t. Even the Bible, with all the patriarchal bias of its authors, uses feminine images for God. We have an example of that in today’s Gospel reading from Luke 13. Did you catch it?
“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!” (Luke 13:34). Jesus likens himself to a mother hen trying to protect her chicks under her wings. In this metaphor, Jesus is our mother and we are the baby chicks who put ourselves in danger out of some combination of ignorance and stubbornness. Jesus reminds us that God can be feminine and that femininity is strong. Jesus is our strong, brave protector from the forces of evil. It takes grit and determination to be a defender. That grit, strength, and bravery take the form of selfless love.
Our mother Jesus loves us even when we rebel and turn against her. Our mother Jesus loves us enough to stand up bravely to Herod who threatened his life. Our mother Jesus loves us enough to speak divine truth to all tyrants who abuse their power. And we know that our mother Jesus is even willing to die if it means healing our broken world.
And believe it or not, God’s willingness to die for us didn’t start with Jesus. God has always loved us selflessly and unconditionally. Our first reading from Genesis is a strange story in which God establishes a covenant with Abraham. God famously tells Abraham that he would have as many descendents as there are stars in the sky. Then they engage in an ancient ritual. God instructs Abraham to sacrifice several animals, cutting them in half and laying them across from one another. Then God passes between the dead animals in the form of “a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch.” In this ritual, when someone walks between the animals, they are essentially saying, I will honor this covenant, and if I fail to do so, may I be slaughtered like these animals.
So the weird part about this story is that God passes through the animals, not Abraham. People are known to be unreliable, to go back on their word, but God is completely reliable. God shouldn’t have to swear on God’s own life. But God willingly offers to do just that. God is willing to die because God loves us so much. God is willing to sacrifice it all in order to remain in a holy relationship with humanity. That is unconditional, motherly, fatherly love.
So as Jesus laments over Jerusalem, he knows he is preparing to die. He knows that the next time he enters that city, he will be riding on a donkey and showered with praise. And the next time he leaves that city, it will be on the way to Golgotha. He knows that his role as God’s prophet and God’s Messiah are going to lead him into direct conflict with the religious and political authorities that will end in his gruesome death. He knows that the chicks he wants to protect under his wings will instead turn against him. But Jesus does it anyway. Like a strong, steadfast mother, Jesus refuses to give up on us.
Let us pray…
O God our Mother, we thank you that you reveal yourself to us in ways beyond our simple categories of male or female, masculine or feminine: Protect us from all danger that will come our way; be faithful to us even when we fail to be faithful to you; and turn our hearts so that we live with the same courage and strength that show us through your son, our mother hen, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Bibliography
Skinner, Matt, Karoline Lewis, and Rolf Jacobson. “Sermon Brainwave 1012: Second Sunday in Lent (Year C) - March 16, 2025.” Working Preacher's Sermon Brainwave. Podcast audio, March 3, 2025. https://sermonbrainwave.libsyn.com/sermon-brainwave-1012-second-sunday-in-lent-year-c-march-16-2025.
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