AtomGod Loves Even the Fifth Sparrow
Matthew 10:24 – 35
This is the year of Matthew in our cycle of scripture readings and Matthew’s gospel focuses not only on the life of Jesus, but very pointedly on what it is like to be a disciple or follower of Jesus. Chapter 10, from which we read again today, does not paint too rosy a picture of being a follower of Jesus. In fact it seems rather gloomy! It is hard to say today, “This is the good news of our Lord!”
Last week we talked about how Jesus called the twelve out of the crowd and gave them authority to teach and heal and chase out evil spirits in peoples’ lives. So far, so good. But then he reminds them that the going out will not be all that easy. There will be those who resist the healing and hope they bring. They will be like sheep among wolves. Some will be handed over to the authorities for punishment and even death. Even family members will turn family members in as disturbers of the peace. In the verses that follow what I read for you, Jesus says, Father will turn against son and daughter against mother. Ones foes may be the members of ones own household. And if the authorities accuse Jesus of being Beelzebub – another name for the Devil – his followers will be called at least as bad. Following Jesus is not going to be a picnic. You can see why in John’s gospel after Jesus has said some of these things there are folks who decide to go home. This is too tough.
In fact for those of you who decided to invite your neighbors and family members to church today, I’m sorry. This probably isn’t the word from Jesus that you wanted to hear today. It is too gloomy, too scary, too real. Yes, too real because it tells the truth. It describes our lives, too. It serves as reminder that followers of Jesus are not exempt from suffering and hurt. In fact, suffering is one of the marks of being a disciple. We probably should have put that on one of our banners in the sanctuary. Suffering for doing what Jesus would have you do. Suffering for telling the truth when others don’t want to hear. Suffering because you are willing to take on jobs that regular people would not want – they’re too messy. They require too much effort with too little reward. But this is what Jesus says it will be about. It will be about telling good news and bringing healing and hope to the world. It will be about driving out evil. And…it will be about suffering for what you believe in.
“But,” says Jesus, “Have no fear.” Three times in this little short passage he says it. “Do not be afraid.” In the face of all the oncoming difficulties of following and of living in this world, Jesus says, “have no fear.” Why? “Because they can kill only the body, but not the soul.” In other words, this life is but a small slice of the big pie yet to come to you. “Have no fear!” Why? “Because God loves even the worthless sparrow.” What? That’s right. And if God loves even sparrows that many think worthless, just think of how much more God is committed to you. Just think!
When Jesus uses this image of the sparrow, friends, he was thinking of the marketplace with which he hearers were very familiar. Everyone bought their food at the marketplace. And sparrows were one of the cheapest foods available. A sparrow was the least expensive allowable sacrifice at the temple. And you know why. Sparrows are a dime a dozen in this world. Exactly…with inflation. In Jesus time you could buy two for a penny…and in another place Jesus says you could get five for two pennies. There was a special deal when you bought in quantity. Sparrows were so common and worthless that even the savvy salesperson offered to throw an extra in as not worth counting. Not worth counting by humans that is…but noted by God. Where people are willing to throw in a sparrow as not worth counting in a two-penny trade, God still cares and counts. “Not one sparrow falls to the ground without God knowing it,” says Jesus. “And are you not worth many sparrows?”
God cares for you. It is an important word to hear – over and over again. And yet it is such a difficult word to believe – especially when life is breaking down, when we encounter personal disappointments, setbacks, and sorrows in our private lives and socially in the viciousness and violence of individuals and groups of people. When we experience such pain we are tempted to believe that God has abandoned us. When life turns against us, we are apt to turn our resentment not upon ourselves, but upon God in anger that God could allow such things, or in unbelief, doubting that a good God could even exist when such things happen or believing that if God does exist, God certainly isn’t concerned about my life and my situation. You’ve heard people say it, maybe even said it yourself: “In light of all that has happened, how can you say that God cares about me?” Where was God when the cancer happened? Or when the plane crashed? Or when my business failed?” How can I believe that God cares about me?
And Jesus says, “Look, these things will happen even to you who follow me. But do not be afraid. If God is keeping track of the lowly sparrow, then God is also keeping track of you. God does know and God does care about the daily affairs of your life!
So where is God in such times – when the doctor says, “It’s Alzheimer’s?” I would suggest that God is in the same place God was when Jesus was praying in the Garden, “Let this cup pass from me.” Where is God when it seems that you are on your own? God is in the same place where God was when Jesus friends saw trouble coming and headed for hiding. Where is God when we lose our life mate? I would suggest that God is in the same place where God was when Jesus cried out from the cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” In the same place where God was when they laid Jesus in the tomb. Nearby, close at hand, close enough to wrap him in eternal love and raise him up to life that never ends. “They can kill the body, but they cannot kill the soul – they cannot take away your future.”
You see, one of the problems we people of faith have is that we tend to equate God’s love for us with good health, contentment and success. God’s love for us is like a great long-term care plan that will take care of all of our daily needs until that evening gently closes in and the angels bear us away. Please note…please note here in the reading that it is the fallen sparrow that Jesus uses as an example of God’s care. The fact is that God does not keep sparrows from falling. Sparrows are felled by kids with slingshots, and by the quick spring of a cat, by cold and hunger. Sparrows fall, but not without God. So, in the same breath that Jesus tells them that the days ahead may not be any easier for them than for other people, Jesus tells them about God’s care for the sparrow. They will suffer, be persecuted and maybe even die – even while doing good. But God still knows and God still cares and God still has a greater and larger purpose in our living. “What is hidden will be revealed; they can kill the body, but not the soul.”
Now, that might not be what you had hoped to hear today. Like me, you might want to hear Jesus say, “Because God loves you, God will spare you problems and anxieties and miseries and give you the health and contentment you want – and maybe a new car, too.” Like Jeremiah in the first lesson, we think we have a better idea and we are prone to complain and whine a bit about God’s choices. Which seems to be something God can handle. One of the hopeful things about the first reading from Jeremiah today is that God when Jeremiah complains, God doesn’t strike Jeremiah with lightening or wash him away in a flood. Did you notice? God heard and God handled Jeremiah’s complaining and carried him through and taught him about life and faith. And God desires to do the same with us.
Which makes me think that Jesus might say to any of his followers, “God knows the smooth road is not the best road for you. It doesn’t offer enough challenge or excitement. It doesn’t allow you to grow and mature. It doesn’t teach you to trust and lean on your God.” The smooth, straight road may not be the best road.
This afternoon we are going to head across the plains on our way to a continuing education event in Colorado. Many of you have heard me speak of it before. And we will be driving nearly all the way across North Dakota to get there. Now, please forgive me those of you who are from North Dakota, but I have heard people say, “I try to drive across North Dakota at night. It’s too boring.” Or others say, “When we go, we get off the interstate. It’s too straight, too predictable, too much the same. It is unending and uninspiring. Give me some twists and turns, give me some hills and valleys, some chance encounters with the local police when I didn’t notice that the speed limit changed from 60 to 45 miles per hour in that long approach into town. We like variety. We like change and we like challenge. It keeps us sharp and awake and growing and learning. Living the life of faith may be a bit like that too. Because this life is not the end of the story nor the intended goal of life. It is preparation for the celebration. It is fall conditioning for the season that is coming. “What is hidden will be revealed. They can kill the body, but not the soul.”
Take heart…and along the way… remember…the God who did not forget or abandon Jesus on the cross or in the tomb does not forget or abandon you. God does indeed see and God does indeed care and God does send help, by the means of God’s Spirit and by the means of God’s people. In joy and sorrow, in happiness and pain, we rest in the hollow of God’s strong, life-giving hand. And Jesus says to us, “Even the lowly sparrow, thrown in free for a two-penny deal, is not outside of the heart of God. It may fall as sparrows and people do, and fall at last never to rise again, as we all must, but it can never fall outside the heart of God. Neither can you. When life is hard, remember that. God loves even the fifth sparrow and you are worth more than many sparrows! Let’s pray…
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