Northern Plains Anglican

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 6:26

“Look,” says the Lord. OK, this morning I got around to one of those acts of obedience that score points to bank against the debt of future sin (No. No. No. Find # XIV)

Forgive that digression. The point is I looked at the gang on our bird feeder this morning, just like Jesus told me to…

The feeder’s been hopping. It looks like a busy airport with all the landings, take offs and general zooming about.

There’s even a waiting line in the branches…

As you can see, its a bunch (flock? gaggle?) of the avian proletariat, sparrows. Not the sexy, colorful song birds who visit the feeder now and again. Just the little bundles of brown.

But Jesus says they’re not to be overlooked. There’s learning to be had. So a few bird brained thoughts before I’m even done with mug o’ coffee #1.

We’re supposed to be seeing something of the kingdom of heaven. The passage about looking at the birds is from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, which lays out the existence that God has in mind and in store for his people.

We’re challenged to stop fretting. Jesus sets this “look at the birds” business in the context of overcoming worry, mainly worry about the stuff we think we need. These sparrows fly (duh) in the face of inflation, summer electric bills, empty store shelves, etc.

Have breakfast on Dad… and me. Our heavenly Father provides for them. But some of that provision is the Father stirring me up to fill the feeder. It’s quite the little biosphere out there. The birds, of course, but also rabbits getting what falls to the ground and deer who, if I don’t lace the birdseed with Cayenne, will empty the feeder completely in the wee hours. But I’m not their only provision – just one bit of the way that God maintains the cosmos and his people in it.

It’s all good. The antics around the feeder tickle me. I delight in them. A couple of days ago I opened the curtain and the sparrows were sitting on the almost empty feeder, staring in at me. Hard to describe the look… was it expectation? Or was it, “Hey, buddy, you think you might make some time for your job?” At any rate, they made me laugh. But my delight is just a shadow of the unfathomable delight that God takes in the creation, in which we are his masterpiece. And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good (Genesis 1:31).

We’re looked at, too. In God’s eyes we’re of even greater value than the delightful birds. Jesus tells us to look at the birds and stop stressing, not because “everything works out OK in time” but because we are God’s treasure and delight. He’s saying, “If you can appreciate dinner theatre put on by sparrows, try to imagine how much more of a star studded attraction are my people as I watch over them.”

OK, speaking of creaturely delights, on to more coffee. God’s peace be with you.