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+ + + In Nomine Jesu + + +
Please join me in prayer: May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. (Amen.)
Pilgrim’s Facilities Coordinator Brady Gage yesterday morning washed the Sanctuary windows, and afterwards he and I talked about birds’ sometimes flying hard into the clean glass, wrongly thinking that they can go through the building from one side to the other. Some of you may have been here and been startled by the sight and sound when that has happened. Even before my conversation with Brady, I was already thinking about the birds of the air, preparing to preach on today’s Gospel Reading with its two parables: the first parable about the scattered seed that grows on its own until the harvest, and the second parable about the smallest seed that grows up and becomes the largest plant, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade. That second parable is closely connected to the prophecy in today’s Old Testament Reading (Ezekiel 17:22‑24), that of a noble cedar in the shade of which birds of every sort nest, and there are other growing trees in today’s Psalm (Psalm 1; antiphon: v.6), and the birds’ “nesting” is related, by the same Greek root word (!), to our earthly “tents” in today’s Epistle Reading (2 Corinthians 5:1-17). So, this sermon, based primarily on today’s Gospel Reading, I have titled “For the birds (in a good sense)”.
We often use the expression “for the birds” in a bad sense, referring to something otherwise worthless, or maybe even crazy, as “for the birds”. As you might expect, there is debate on the internet about the origin of the phrase “for the birds”. A number of websites claim that the phrase came from World War II, when horses engaged in moving heavy weapons would deposit their excrement, which the birds would then sort through for seeds. Another website suggests a Biblical origin of the phrase “for the birds”, as when the Lord targets people and leaves them dead out in the open as food for the birds of prey (for example, Deuteronomy 28:26). Both of those origin theories allow that what we might regard as worth‑less can be valu‑able for the birds. And, certainly, in today’s Gospel Reading, the mustard plant with its large branches is valuable to the birds of the air who can make nests in its shade.
In the Old Testament’s wisdom literature, birds that people trap are sometimes compared to certain people: as the birds are blind to their imminent danger, so are people, who do not know their time, suddenly snared (Ecclesiastes 9:12; confer Schwab, TDOT 12:447-448). We also are reminded of people’s ignorance and limitations in today’s Gospel Reading, when, in the first parable, Jesus refers to the man who scatters seed on the ground’s not knowing how the seed sprouts and grows, and when the Divinely‑inspired St. Mark writes that Jesus spoke the word to the people “as they were able to hear it”, or “listen”. In the first parable, Jesus’s mentioning the sickle and harvest at least alludes to God’s coming judgment on all wickedness (Joel 3:13; Revelation 14:15), either His judging us at our individual deaths or when He comes to judge all the living (Hebrews 9:27)—and that is not even to mention the theme of judgment in today’s Psalm and Epistle Reading! In the second parable, Jesus at least alludes to the Kingdom of God that He brings’ being the fulfillment of Old Testament promises of the Messiah, the Savior, like that we heard in today’s Old Testament Reading. As much as Jesus thereby called all people then—and calls all people now—to turn away from their sin and to trust God to forgive their sin, some people rejected His enabling invitation then—and some reject His enabling invitation now. To those who reject, the parables are only warnings of the present and eternal punishment that sin deserves, but, to those who repent and believe, the parables are also the power of salvation and the peace and comfort and joy that that salvation brings in Jesus Christ (confer Mark 4:10‑12).
Years ago, when I was a vicar, or student pastor, in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, I had the opportunity to participate in the ceremony for the lighting of the big public Christmas tree at Victoria Park in our “twin” city of Kitchener. In the ceremony, I read the Ezekiel reading that we heard today, for it, perhaps more than any other Bible passage, connects an evergreen tree with the coming of Christ. At times, other kings and their nations may have provided shelter to the birds of the air, as it were (Ezekiel 31:6; Daniel 4:12, 14, 21), but the Lord brought them low and dry and made high and green the tree that He Himself planted: a shoot from the stump of Jesse, a branch from his roots (Isaiah 11:1), a righteous branch raised up for David, Who shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness (Jeremiah 23:5; confer Zechariah 3:8). That One is the Son of God in human flesh, Jesus Christ. As the Divinely‑inspired St. Paul said in today’s Epistle Reading, out of His love, Christ died for all. On the cross, Jesus died for us, in our place, the death that we deserved. As we turn away from our sin and trust God to forgive our sin for Jesus’s sake, we are forgiven, and we come under His spiritual provision and protection like the birds of the air making nests in the mustard plant’s shade.
Apparently from their nests in the mustard plant’s shade, the birds of the air would have ready access to the plant’s seed as food—no need for them to pick through horse excrement. Likewise, God provides for us from beginning to end. As in the first parable, through one of His servants, the seed is planted, and without our fully understanding how, it sprouts and grows, eventually producing grain ripe for harvest—good works as evidence of our faith when we appear before the judgment seat of Christ. One of God’s servants plants, another waters, but God gives the growth (1 Corinthians 3:6-7). As we heard in the Epistle Reading, we are baptized into Christ and so are new creations: the old has passed away; behold, the new has come. The Holy Spirit is given to us as a guarantee of what is prepared for us. To us is given the secret, or “mystery”, of the Kingdom of God, all that we need to know for salvation, in language that can be understood by all, with the authority and power of our God Who graciously gives us His Word. So, we can feast on bread that is the Body of Christ given for us, and we can imbibe wine that is the Blood of Christ shed for us, and so we also can receive the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation. As we sang in the Psalm, we are as trees planted by streams of water that yield their fruit in their season and our leaves do not wither.
At the risk of further mixing metaphors, I mentioned earlier that the birds’ “nesting” in the second parable is related to our earthly “tents” in today’s Epistle Reading. Truly, as St. Paul describes, in the tent of our earthly bodies we groan, being burdened, and longing to put on our heavenly dwellings, buildings from God, houses not made with hands, eternal in the heavens—if necessary resurrected, but certainly glorified bodies. Even though we would rather be away from our mortal bodies and at home with the Lord, we are always of good courage. In this life God provides for all of our material needs of such things as clothing, food, and drink, as He clothes the lilies of the field and feeds the birds of the air, in comparison to which, Jesus says, we are more valuable (Matthew 6:25-34)—note well how our Closing Hymn meditates on those statements of our Lord (Lutheran Service Book 736). With daily repentance and faith, we live in God’s forgiveness of sins, and, in turn, we extend our forgiveness of sins to one another. As Jesus teaches, so we are sure both that the Kingdom of God is growing whether or not we see it or understand it, and that, though that Kingdom starts small, by comparison it will be surprisingly big in the end.
As the growth of the mustard plant was “For the birds (in a good sense)”, so is the growth of the Kingdom of God for us. We at Pilgrim cannot really help whether or not the birds of the air try to fly through the windows (unless maybe we made them stained glass), but we try to care for the birds of the air in other ways, such as when we find one of their nests in the mail box (confer Deuteronomy 22:6-7). And, like the psalmist in another place says of the sparrow and swallow, ultimately we find a home at the Altar of the Lord of Hosts, our King and our God (Psalm 84:3).
Amen.
The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
+ + + Soli Deo Gloria + + +