9.00am and 10.30am Sunday 12 July 2004
Rev Des Botting
Readings: Deuteronomy 32:1-11, 44-47; Philippians 2:12-16
We live in a state of constant change. We dont know what were going to find when we wake up in the morning. Fuel prices go up and down, mainly up at present and likely to continue that way for some time. Weather patterns change over the seasons, and on a daily basis, especially in a place like Auckland. As you all well know you can have a beautiful start to the day, and by mid morning, if not sooner, its clouded over and raining. What one has to do is to make the most of the fine weather while youve got it. It maynt stay round for long. Thats what makes Aucklands such an exciting place to live.
But its also true in our personal lives. Our circumstances change. Our families change. Children grow up, and make their own way in life. We lose loved ones through death. Our bodies change, as we grow older. Our outlook on life, and the future, changes with the passing of the years. We experience changes in our work situations a new boss, or workmates, new procedures to learn, new equipment to operate, new computer programmes to master, maybe redundancy or restructuring. Any sense of security we think we may have in life is only an illusion, as it can all change overnight.
Why is life like that? Why are we never safe from the ravages of time? Why all these disruptions and disturbing elements in life? Is there any deep and final explanation to it all? Or is it in the order of Nature that we live in a state of perpetual change? Is it a failure to adjust to our environment? Maybe all of these contribute in some way or other, but perhaps theres a deeper explanation. Isnt this constant state of change the outcome of a Divine initiative so that we dont get too settled and comfortable here on earth, because, after all, were only strangers here?[1] Doesnt it belong more truly to the order of Providence rather than of Nature that life constantly unsettles us. This, at any rate, was the viewpoint of Moses, in the song he taught to the people of Israel, from which we read this morning.
In Deuteronomy
he surveys a segment of the nations history. In this song he seeks to justify Gods
ways with his own people. And in
doing so he states a principle that has relevance far beyond its immediate
setting. He says,
He shielded and guarded him like
an eagle that stirs up its nest
and hovers over its young, that spreads its wings to catch them and carries them on its pinions.[2] Its a beautiful image, and one God uses a number of times in Scripture to describe how he works.
The first thing thats significant about this particular use of the image is what this verse implies about the source of the rufflings of life. Its saying that God stirs up our nests. Hes the One whos responsible for the dislocations that take place in life. He acts towards humankind in a way similar to the treatment that the parent eagle metes out to its fledglings. He deliberately destroys our complacency and breaks up our fixed and settled ways. And so the main instigator of change isnt what wed normally take it to be. It isnt an accident, or purposeless fate, or because of someones whim. It isnt the pressure of circumstance, nor our reaction to it. It isnt the outcome of human choices, or the clash of conflicting interests, nor the necessity to bow to the will of Natural causes. It has its source, rather, in the intelligent, purposeful will of God that always seeks our highest good. All of creation is in the hands of the living God, and the rufflings of life are all part of his divine plan.
This may require us to revise our understanding of what we term providence, as we mostly look upon it as bringing only good to our lives. If we take on board what this passage is saying, and particularly in the light of the experience of people like Job in the Bible, we need to realise that it maynt be only good that God allows and permits to come our way. And when disaster strikes or bad things happen, as it surely will at times, we must be able to say as Job said, The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.[3] Otherwise, whos in control of this universe?
With the eagle the obvious intention of the parent bird isnt to treat her fledglings cruelly but rather to enable them to realise that for which they were destined, (Picture of eagle) to ride the air currents of the sky, to swoop and soar, and live an independent life in the elements that properly belong to them. In the spiritual sense, isnt this Gods desire for us to? (Blank Screen)
Obviously this explanation doesnt cover all the things that happen in life. But its true to say that this viewpoint of Moses, the great Jewish lawgiver, does shed some light on why life is as it is. God knows our human weakness, our dislike of change, our tendency to become fixed and immoveable in our mindsets and attitudes that cause us to lose momentum and stagnate. So he lovingly but intentionally exercises himself to counteract our natural reluctance to change. If our lives are to remain open to his plans and purposes, then strong pressure must be brought to bear on us from outside. As one preacher described it,[4] He teases us with the irritant of change. He lets loose his gray-winged messengers hunger, pain, and death; sickness and sorrow; lost powers and broken dreams so that we may learn to set our hearts on whats above, and align ourselves with his kingdom agenda.
And this is true not only in the personal and particular events in life, but also is the course of human history. It was certainly true at the time of the reformation when all Europe was in turmoil - intellectual, political, social, and religious. It was a time of national bankruptcy, peasant riots, and revolution. The church was shaken by schism and corruption, the authority of priests was questioned, and laws from Rome ignored. God was ruffling the nest, and, as a result, Europe rediscovered its soul. Not only did the reformation give birth to the Protestant movement of which were a part today, but it also brought wide-sweeping reforms within the Catholic Church as well. And this is only one example of what has happened many times throughout history.
Doesnt this explain whats happening on the international scene today?
What are the Blessings and Benefits that come from such dislocations in life. There is, to begin with on the personal level, the
1. Strength of Character that these experiences produce. Job could say of his experience, when he tests me, I will be pure as gold.[5] Paul said, We gladly suffer, because we know that suffering helps us to endure. And endurance builds character, which gives us a hope that will never disappoint us...[6] Times of trial, which are never easy to handle, do build character.
But beyond that is a realization of the
2. Supporting presence of God. The God who disturbs our security wont leave us defenceless nor resourceless. He stirs up the nest not in any vindictive way, but as a loving Father; and when we find ourselves in an unfamiliar place, without support or landmarks to get a bearing from, its then that we discover that were borne up on those mighty invisible wings. As Moses says in the next chapter of Deuteronomy, The eternal God is your refuge; and underneath are the everlasting arms.[7]
The way the parent eagle treats its young is the way God treats us. The little eaglet needs encouragement to launch out on its own. Its very comfortable in the nest tucked away from harm, safe in the crags of the mountaintops. But thats not what it was born for, and so from the dizzy heights of the nest the parent eagle forces its young out one by one. When they falter it swoops beneath them and bears them up and lets them try again, until they fly. And when they do, a whole new world opens before them.
This has always been Gods way with his people. Its how he worked with Abram. Abram had become settled in Haran after he and his father moved there from Ur of the Chaldees. But God had a far greater plan in mind for the nomadic farmer. One day God said to him, Leave your country, your family, and your relatives and go to the land that I will show you. I will bless you and make your descendants into a great nation. You will become famous and be a blessing to others. Everyone on earth will be blessed because of you.[8] God had an amazing destiny in store for him, and one could appreciate if Abram had trouble believing it, especially since his wife was barren. But Abram was obedient even if he didnt know where he was going or how it was going to come true. God ruffled Abrams comfortable nest in Haran to launch him on a path that would profoundly affect the course of human history. Through his son, Isaac, born to him and Sarah in their old age, came the nation of Israel.
It happened with Israel, too. Gods promise to Abraham was to be fulfilled through Israel. During their time in Egypt, despite having to toil tirelessly as slaves, they multiplied rapidly from 70 persons to become a nation of some 2 million. After 400 years it was time for the nest to be ruffled again, and God launched them forth to fulfill his purpose.
God constantly moves his people forward. Theres example after example of God ruffling the nest of his people to send them forth on his mission for the world. Lets look at just one more example from the Bible. Just before his ascension Jesus said to his disciples, the Holy Spirit will come upon you and give you power. Then you will tell everyone about me in Jerusalem, in all Judea, in Samaria, and everywhere in the world, - a huge assignment to be given to a handful of men. It began in Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost with 3000 people believing and being baptized. The church was just getting comfortable in Jerusalem when it was time for the next phase of Gods plan to be realised. He ruffled the nest by sending persecution on the church so that the Lords followers, except for the apostles, became scattered everywhere throughout Judea and Samaria.
And then when it was time for the final stage to be implemented God ruffled the nest of Saul of Tarsus, a fanatical Pharisee, turned his understanding of God and Jesus upside down and inside out, made him make an about-turn on the path he was taking, and commissioned him to tell this news to the Gentiles. And as a result of that event, we are here today. Gods purpose embraced the whole world.
He has a plan and purpose for his people, a plan that will ultimately be fulfilled. Every follower of Christ has a part to play. Every congregation is to make a positive difference to the community in which its placed and beyond. The plan he has is to give us a future with hope,[9]and he wants us to use the wings of our faith to accomplish that.
God blesses us so that we can be a blessing to others. This is where the passage from Philippians helps us. It reminded us that Gods working in us. We always have within us what we need to fly. We maynt recognise it yet, but its there just waiting to be tapped. We need to stop saying, We dont have what it takes. Gods given us everything we need to get us where we ought to be! This is true for us as individuals, just as its true for us as a congregation. Youre a person full of amazing potential! Were a church full of amazing potential! We havent even begun to realize it. Its only a matter of releasing it, and under the guidance and enabling of the Holy Spirit its possible. We must release the God element thats within us and put it to work!
Its learning to live by a different principle, just like gliding. What the glider pilot must learn is to read the air currents. Jesus said, The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.[10] Gods way is to let the wind of his Spirit do the work. We cant turn it on or off. We cant engineer it or take credit for it. But we can train ourselves like good glider pilots to read it and respond to it. Once we do that, were walking in the Spirit instead of straining in the flesh. We must ask God to help us live that way, both in our own relationship with him, and as a church.
Its time to spread our wings of faith and move out of our comfort zone and make Jesus Christ known through love in action, to move from maintenance to mission mode as a church, from just surviving to thriving. Every aspect of the churchs life needs to have an evangelistic focus. To withhold Gods good news is a terrible sin. Rachel plead with Jacob when she wasnt able to conceive, Give me children, or Ill die![11] This has a spiritual application. Would to God that we become just as passionate about having spiritual offspring.
[1] Cf. 1 Peter 1:17
[2] Deuteronomy 32:10-11(All Bible references are from the Contemporary English Version unless otherwise stated.)
[3] Job 1:21 NIV
[4] Rev Dr Robert Menzies, of Glasgow, in a sermon on this verse entitled The Eagle and Its Brood, published in The Expository Times, Edinburgh: T & T Clark, Vol. LXXV, No. 8, (May 1964)
[5] Job 23:10
[6] Romans 5:3-5
[7] Deuteronomy 33:27 NIV
[8] Genesis 12:1-3
[9] Jeremiah 29:11
[10] John 3:8 NIV
[11] Genesis 30:1