COMFORTING CHICKEN SOUP
- theologeat
- Nov 30, 2025
- 6 min read
Eat
Yields 4-6 Servings
Ingredients
1 whole chicken
8 large carrots
8 stalks celery
4 yellow onions
2 tablespoons of salt
4 liters of water
1/2 package of egg noodles
additional salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
Prepare half the vegetables (4 carrots, 4 stalks of celery, and 2 onions) for your finished soup. For all vegetables, set aside peels and ends for use in your stock. Cut the peeled vegetables into bite sized pieces. Store these in an airtight container in fridge for use after your stock is finished.
Prepare the stock. Cut the remaining vegetables into quarters. Places these, with peels and ends, into a large pot. Add whole chicken and salt. Top with water. If your pot is too small for all of the water at this point, fill to within an inch of the rim and add remaining water as stock reduces.
Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer. If your chicken is not fully submerged flip after an hour.
When your chicken is fully cook (around 90 minutes) remove the chicken to a colander placed in a large bowl. When cool enough to touch, remove the meat and store in an airtight container in your fridge for use in your finished soup. Return the carcass to your stock pot along with any juices that have accumulated in the bowl. Now is a good time to add remaining water if needed.
Continue to simmer stock for at least 2 more hours. The longer the better for developing a rich flavour. Just do not let it reduce too much or you will not have much broth left to enjoy.
When ready, strain your stock into the large bowl used earlier. Discard carcass and vegetables. Ideally, allow the stock to cool overnight in the refrigerator so that any fat can solidify and be skimmed off. If this is not possible, continue immediately to the next step.
Return stock to pot and bring to a boil. Add prepared vegetables and lower to a simmer for 30 minutes or until the vegetables are tender. Shortly before serving, add the chicken meat back to the soup (cut/tear to bite sized pieces) allowing a few minutes for the meat to warm through.
Meanwhile, cook your egg noodles according to directions. Strain and divide noodles between serving bowls, ladling soup on top. Serve with salt and pepper to taste. If you have leftovers, refrigerate soup and noodles separately to keep your noodles from getting soggy and having the broth get sucked up/starchy.
Theology
Inspired Word
Job 16:1-5
Then Job replied:
“I have heard many things like these; you are miserable comforters, all of you! Will your long-winded speeches never end? What ails you that you keep on arguing? I also could speak like you, if you were in my place; I could make fine speeches against you and shake my head at you. But my mouth would encourage you; comfort from my lips would bring you relief...”
Bite Sized Theology
Job’s friends represent a view of God which is called “Reward and Retribution Theology”. The concept that God brings good things (rewards) to those who obey, and bad things (retribution) to those who do not, can be found in the Bible, but Reward and Retribution Theology oversimplifies the message. In so doing, it both negates God’s grace to give good to all people and assumes that all suffering must come as a consequence of sin.
The Main Meal
Jesus told his followers, “In this world you will have trouble” (John 16:33). Who cannot agree with this statement? From the moment that we are born into this world there is pain, difficulty, and suffering. There are times where disruptions move beyond what a person feels they can bear, and reliable coping mechanisms fail to return any semblance of equilibrium. This is crisis. Because a crisis has more to do with personal response than the inducing event, it can occur just as easily over something that is seemingly small as it can over a dramatic incident. Whatever the external presentation of the crisis may be, internally the person is unable to move on because they cannot reconcile their pre and post trauma selves. It is the difficult space of still being alive, but no longer being the person who you once were… that person is dead. Jesus’ statement to his followers did not end with a warning of trouble, he reassures them that he has “overcome the world”. He is not only victorious over the sources of suffering, but also a comforter during affliction. What’s more, 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 reminds Christians that we receive comfort from God, “so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction...”. Of course, while God may be the perfect comforter, we humans tend to produce mixed results. Job’s friends failed so miserably at the task that they have been immortalized in Scripture as “miserable comforters” (Job 16:1). How then can we do better?
The difficulty of attempting this task is the point of Deborah van Deusen Hunsinger’s article Bearing the Unbearable: Trauma, Gospel and Pastoral Care. Her article emphasizes the need for a compassionate companion in suffering and the difficulty of being said companion. There is a natural temptation to minimize or deny the anguish we are being asked to share. Van Deusen Hunsinger advises against a number of natural – though unhelpful – responses such as: offering strategic advice or empty platitudes, asking intrusive questions, pulling focus to one’s own similar situation, and displaying pity or, worse, judgment! There is a time to simply listen and, often, comforting someone in crisis is that time. Job’s friends were at their best when they simply sat with him (Job 2:13) and became “miserable comforters” when they attempted to explain, and advise on, his disastrous state.
Job’s friends are guilty of saying the wrong things and, worse yet, saying them at the wrong time. Like many a Christian cliché, their words hold the ring of truth. It is nearly scriptural, yet it is not actually scriptural truth. These men held to a popular theological worldview that emphasized reward for the righteous and retribution for the sinner. Job’s shocking circumstances had rocked him in such a way that he could no longer hold that worldview. As he vented his pain and frustration, Job was clearly suffering more because he felt that God – as he knew Him – was gone from him than he did from losing the life that he knew (Job 19 makes a particularly good example). Over and over his friends defend their theological stance, and in so doing repeatedly blame Job for his troubles, and so prolong his suffering. These men came in with good intentions but when Job’s speeches questioned God, and their theology, they became defensive and angry. Remaining faithful to God and his righteousness was an integral part of their identity, as it is for many Christians. Yet, when God arrives in the book of Job, he does not applaud these men for defending his honour. For three chapters (Job 38-41) God proves capable of handling this himself as he reminds Job who he is. It is a delightful irony that God then turns to the friends and says simply “I am angry with you... because you have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant Job has” (Job 42:7). Seeing a person question God can make us defensive but God is far greater than we can imagine, and he does not need our rash defense... especially when that defense stems from prideful idolization of our own theology. Yes, stand firm in faithfulness to God! It may even be appropriate to state that you do not agree with what the person is saying, but in the face of suffering the Christ-like response is compassion rather than theological debate.
In a time of crisis, a slow approach to verbal digestion of the events is advisable. Most often it is best to first focus on ensuring the person is connected to their bodily sense of safety and security. Simply being an affirming presence and attending to a person’s physical needs is a legitimate pastoral crisis response until the time comes when they are ready to speak. When they do, a quality comforter bears witness and waits prayerfully for the opportunities to show love, empathy, and understanding while the God of all comfort heals their broken heart.
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