Jesus, Skunks, and Mother Hens

Today during children’s sermon I told the children that Jesus compared himself to an animal/creature in a Bible passage I was going to read later to the adults. I asked if they had any ideas what creature Jesus might have chosen.  The responses were interesting, including a bear, a giraffe, and an eagle, but the one that left me most intrigued and, at the moment, speechless, was a skunk.  I like how the kid thinks outside the box.

Talking with folks afterwards, a couple of possible ways to connect to Jesus to a skunk were uncovered:

*Like a skunk, Jesus often preferred to be by himself.

*Although it doesn’t involve real violence, the spray a skunk uses on an adversary  definately has a power of a certain sort, the impact of which will remain with someone for a good long while afterwards. Jesus practiced non-violence, but his actions had their own persuasive power and impact.

If you’re wondering what animal Jesus in fact compared himself to, it was a mother hen who extends her wings in an invitation to her chicks to come and find shelter, but sadly, they reject her offer.  It is said that a mother hen will remain in a fire it could easily flee in order to provided shelter for her babies. The charred remains of dead hens have been found with baby chicks alive underneath.