PD#9

I am sitting out on my back porch this morning as the sun gets ready to inaugurate a new day. Birds sing and dance in the dew-laden grass, looking for that proverbial early worm they are entitled to. Maybe they can forget about the worms for awhile and feast instead on the big hairy spiders that roam my backyard grass.

Jesus once preached a sermon, and talked about birds. Standing on the side of a hill in order to be heard by the large crowd, he said,

“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?” (Matthew 6:25-26).

The answer to this question is obvious. Yes. We are of more value than birds. And God, creator of both birds and man, provides for both. The clear purpose of Jesus’ words here is a warning against anxiety, worrying about material provision.

But this is not Pollyanna optimism built on a naïve view of the world. Jesus isn’t advocating bird-brain theology, as though birds never die and babies never starve. He knows this present world is not how it was created to be. The curse of sin and death hovers over all creation.

So, a few chapters later, birds once again take center stage in Jesus’ teaching as he says:

“And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore, you are more value than many sparrows.” (Matthew 10:28-31).

“Kill,” “hell,” “destroy,” “fall,” – this is the working vocabulary of the one who knows that this life is not all there is.

Indeed, God is benevolent and kind, pouring out a world of blessing on His creation, whether they acknowledge Him or not. Because He is powerful and wise to provide for what He has made, He does not want us to be overly concerned about our own material provision, as if we ourselves are God, makers of our own destiny.

Instead, God wants us to take time in this world to consider eternity, the life that is to come. In contrast to the concerns of this present world, Jesus wants us to focus much thought and attention to the world to come.

“Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” (Matthew 6:33).

This entry was posted on Sunday, July 27th, 2008 at 6:34 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.