Faith, fear, and fragility

Pastor Phil Kniss began his sermon on this, the second Sunday of Lent, by suggesting that this decade might be called the decade of fear. Our culture highlights so many things that might cause us to be fearful. Fear can debilitate and immobilize us, and is often used to maintain power over. But there is another kind of fear, a fear that lets us move away from harm and that ends up protecting us. Pastor Phil noted that baby chicks, when they are frightened, scurry to find shelter under the mother hen's wings. They find saftey in their gathered "community" with their brothers and sisters. Luke 13:31-35 is a passage where Jesus says that he has longed to gather Jerusalem together as a hen gathers her chicks. Phil says that God does not want us to be afraid, but God does want us to be chicken. God wants us to come together and seek shelter under God's covering wings. As a part of our Lenten journey, can we let go of our fears and hold on to God's protection?