THE WORTH OF A SPARROW
Psalm 84:2-4
Matthew 10:28-31
Luke 12:6-7
The sun is shining. The sky is winter blue, and the temperatures are below zero. With the cold and the nose-hair freezing wind chills, it's a great day to stay inside and watch birds.
I have ornamental, flowering fruit trees in the back yard, and the robins along with the cedar waxwings have come out from the woods to feast on the fruit still clinging to the branches. The occasional blue jay and cardinal stop by to peck at the remains of this weekend's communion bread. The front yard, however, is being dominated by the English house sparrows.
English house sparrows are one of the most common bird species in the world. No wonder Matthew priced them out at five for a penny (copper coin). It's little wonder considering how aggressive these little birds can be.
Male house sparrows are sometimes called "bulls" because they are the first to move in and claim nesting areas from other birds, chasing them away and destroying nests and eggs.
They are crevice nesters. During the nesting season, not even dryer vents are safe. From our (my husband and my) personal experience, it's wise to not to leave the mail box lid up or a screened windows open during the day. A broom left by the back door is handy for knocking down nests that appear daily under the eaves before the eggs have been laid. Also, grass clippings, creeping charlie vines, and other ward waste left on the compost pile provide handy, new nesting material to replace what we tore down. Tenacious little critters!
As annoying as they can be, Psalm 84 tells us that even sparrows find a home beside the altars in the house of the Lord. God welcomes them and provides a safe sanctuary where they can raise their young in safety and security. In the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, Jesus tells us that our Creator is so lovingly aware of them that God even knows when one of them falls to the ground.
Jesus points out that if God loves a common sparrow that much, we are worth even so much, much more to God. God is so intimately interested in our well being that God can tell each and everyone of us how many hairs are on our heads.
"Fear not," Jesus is quoted in both Luke and Matthew. When we are lonely, feeling abandoned or like something someone scraped off the bottom of a shoe, "fear not," because we are loved beyond our comprehension and God's compassionate attention is on us.
Out of these comforting words, I hear a challenge to us when we are the most comfortable and most confident. When we have been loved and forgiven and know that we know that we know that God is always working for our good, how do we treat the human "sparrows" in our lives.
They're everywhere, and they may be pushy and rude and noisy and irritating. They get on our last nerve, demand too much of our attention, and cut us off in traffic. Despite some of them being strangers, they seem to instinctively know every one of our pet peeves and all our hot buttons.
Some of them are the people we work with, sit next to in church or share a property line with. Some, God bless them, even like us and are trying hard to be our friends, but have no idea that the sound of their voices are like finger nails on a chalk board or that they rub us the wrong way.
I know that you know someone like that, and God knows that person, and loves him or her, too.
God knows that someone and loves that someone. God calls that "sparrow" by name and is so present with that person that our Creator knows the number of hairs on that person's head. Christ loves and died for these folks, too.
I can't remember the last time I was struck by wonder and awe by how much an irritating, nerve-grating person is loved and cared for by the Lord, just like I am.
Maybe I need to do that.
Maybe, we all need to do that, remembering that we are "sparrows," too.
Matthew 10:28-31
Luke 12:6-7
The sun is shining. The sky is winter blue, and the temperatures are below zero. With the cold and the nose-hair freezing wind chills, it's a great day to stay inside and watch birds.
I have ornamental, flowering fruit trees in the back yard, and the robins along with the cedar waxwings have come out from the woods to feast on the fruit still clinging to the branches. The occasional blue jay and cardinal stop by to peck at the remains of this weekend's communion bread. The front yard, however, is being dominated by the English house sparrows.
English house sparrows are one of the most common bird species in the world. No wonder Matthew priced them out at five for a penny (copper coin). It's little wonder considering how aggressive these little birds can be.
Male house sparrows are sometimes called "bulls" because they are the first to move in and claim nesting areas from other birds, chasing them away and destroying nests and eggs.
They are crevice nesters. During the nesting season, not even dryer vents are safe. From our (my husband and my) personal experience, it's wise to not to leave the mail box lid up or a screened windows open during the day. A broom left by the back door is handy for knocking down nests that appear daily under the eaves before the eggs have been laid. Also, grass clippings, creeping charlie vines, and other ward waste left on the compost pile provide handy, new nesting material to replace what we tore down. Tenacious little critters!
As annoying as they can be, Psalm 84 tells us that even sparrows find a home beside the altars in the house of the Lord. God welcomes them and provides a safe sanctuary where they can raise their young in safety and security. In the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, Jesus tells us that our Creator is so lovingly aware of them that God even knows when one of them falls to the ground.
Jesus points out that if God loves a common sparrow that much, we are worth even so much, much more to God. God is so intimately interested in our well being that God can tell each and everyone of us how many hairs are on our heads.
"Fear not," Jesus is quoted in both Luke and Matthew. When we are lonely, feeling abandoned or like something someone scraped off the bottom of a shoe, "fear not," because we are loved beyond our comprehension and God's compassionate attention is on us.
Out of these comforting words, I hear a challenge to us when we are the most comfortable and most confident. When we have been loved and forgiven and know that we know that we know that God is always working for our good, how do we treat the human "sparrows" in our lives.
They're everywhere, and they may be pushy and rude and noisy and irritating. They get on our last nerve, demand too much of our attention, and cut us off in traffic. Despite some of them being strangers, they seem to instinctively know every one of our pet peeves and all our hot buttons.
Some of them are the people we work with, sit next to in church or share a property line with. Some, God bless them, even like us and are trying hard to be our friends, but have no idea that the sound of their voices are like finger nails on a chalk board or that they rub us the wrong way.
I know that you know someone like that, and God knows that person, and loves him or her, too.
God knows that someone and loves that someone. God calls that "sparrow" by name and is so present with that person that our Creator knows the number of hairs on that person's head. Christ loves and died for these folks, too.
I can't remember the last time I was struck by wonder and awe by how much an irritating, nerve-grating person is loved and cared for by the Lord, just like I am.
Maybe I need to do that.
Maybe, we all need to do that, remembering that we are "sparrows," too.
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