Consider the birds

“Choose a painting, and I will add a Bible verse and have it mounted,” a Chinese friend said during my recent visit there. She had a roll of beautiful traditional style pictures. I picked out one with birds and flowers, two things I especially enjoy.

What verse would I choose? I prayerfully pondered this as I enjoyed a late afternoon walk in a park, the twitter of birds all about me. I felt God prompting me to choose a line from Matthew 6:26 – “Consider the birds….” Actually, the Chinese translation, 你们看那天上的飞鸟, literally means, ‘Look, you lot (‘you’ – plural), at those birds flying in the sky’.

My setting

As I pondered this passage of Scripture, I was in the middle of an almost month-long trip to China. I had three aims for the visit, two of which were being met rather well and a third which wasn’t … not that it really mattered. It was the first goal that weighed on my mind.

During this visit, I wanted … even needed … to refine my research topic for my doctoral studies back in Australia. At the end of this semester, I will finish taking subjects for the course. Starting early next year, I can begin a self-directed regimen of relevant reading and writing then embark on the research project properly. I anticipate that it will take four years of hard work to complete the research. So I want to choose the topic wisely.

The directors of the Doctor of Ministry program at my college had encouraged me to use this trip, in part, to seek God’s direction on the matter. They recommended that I institute daily practices of (1) a prayer walk (“Lord, what do you want me to see and hear?”) and (2) an evening examen (“Lord, where have I sensed your nudges today?”).

And so it was that I prayer walked around a Chinese park that day, asking, “God, what do you want me to see? What do you want me to hear?”

What I saw, and what I heard, were birds … blue-black magpie type birds, sparrows, pigeons, ducks and more.

The original setting

As I later prepared a Bible talk on this passage entitled, ‘Consider the birds’, I had cause to think more about the original setting in which Jesus uttered those words. Actually, Jesus probably pronounced these words in Aramaic, expressing the equivalent of the Greek phrase “ἐμβλέψατε εἰς τὰ πετεινὰ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ.”

Greek was the ‘lingua franca’ in the eastern Mediterranean world at the time, hence being used for the written record of this account. Aramaic, however, was the language commonly spoken in Israel in Jesus’ day. I’m no student of Greek, but from Biblehub.com, I understand that these words of Jesus, as recorded by Matthew, literally mean something like, ‘Gaze intently, you lot (plural), at the birds flying in the sky.’

Jesus was sitting on a hill at the time, preaching what we now call ‘The Sermon on the Mount’. I imagine that he looked up to the sky and, observing small birds flitting about, or perhaps bigger birds soaring high on wind currents, said to his listeners, ‘Consider the birds….’

It wasn’t an isolated comment, but what he was about to say related closely to that which he had just been expounding upon … treasure in heaven, loving God and not money etc. This section of the Sermon on the Mount starts with the word ‘Therefore’ (Matthew 6:25), but space in this blog post is inadequate to explore all that.

Pointing to those flying birds, Jesus urged his listeners to refrain from worrying about the daily necessities of life. I pondered these words in my little backyard in Melbourne just a few days ago as I prepared that Bible talk on the topic. A pair of gorgeous crimson rosellas tweeted to one another in the tree above me.

Valued

Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?

Matthew 6:26 NIV

God values us.

Us! His people! We are valuable to God.

Who are we in the sight of God? We are his precious children!

Of course that is no excuse for being lazy or irresponsible. It’s all about our attitudes. Jesus would go on to urge his followers to seek God’s kingdom and his righteousness rather than the daily necessities of life. But a key lesson that I gleaned from gazing at the birds is this: WE ARE VALUABLE TO GOD!

Managing our thought lives

Jesus went on to explain that his followers should focus their attention on his kingdom rather than worry about the minutiae of life which, if we are not careful, can become all consuming. I may yet devote another whole blog post to this, along with some further thoughts about the ‘flowers of the field’ (Matthew 6:28-34). Space is insufficient here.

One related point which I needed to think about, however, is this: As God’s people, we are to manage our thought lives in ways which reflect our status as valued children of the Almighty Father. It’s easier to speak or write about it than it is to actually do it.

Which is where the birds I see most days are helpful prompts. God feeds them. He cards for them. I am far more valuable to him than they are, beautiful though they be. Will worrying about this or that make any measurable difference to the outcome?

Stop it! (The unhelpful worry, that is.) Just stop it!

(I’m writing to myself here and not lecturing anybody else.)

Getting it right

Jesus had been talking about the way we so often worry about the basic necessities of life. Being a modern Australian woman from an affluent society, my ‘worries’ are perhaps a little less practical.

I had been worried about my research topic and ‘getting it right’. I was feeling the weight of responsibility even as I sought God’s direction. Pray about the topic – think over options – investigate possibilities … yes, that is appropriate. But worry about it? No.

As I prayer walked, I came across this beautiful old building (in the photo below), which is a storage place for ancient Buddhist texts. I set up my phone-camera to take a photo of the building silhouetted against the dusk clouds, but didn’t realise that I still had a three second self-timer enabled.

I held the phone-camera steady. Three – two – one … and just as the shutter clicked, a little bird flew into the picture.

Of what value was the bird? Look at its nicely rounded tummy, its strong healthy wings and its incredible aerodynamic design. Does the bird build ornate buildings to store its cultural heritage? Does it even plant and grow and reap the food it needs, let alone store crops for the winter?

Our heavenly Father feeds the birds. Are we not much more valuable than they?

(Mind you, I feel sorry for the birds when the weather is miserable and food is scarce. But I digress….)

Getting on with it

Could it be that God ‘sent a bird’ into my photo during that prayer walk? Stranger things have happened. I think of Bible stories in which God enabled a donkey to speak, directed a big fish to swallow a prophet, caused a vine to grow in a particular time and place and sent a worm to eat the vine.

And so I resolved to just get on with settling on a topic for the academic project without the accompanying attitude of worry about ‘getting it right’, not being adequately qualified, experienced or clever.

After all, who am I to embark on such a project?

I’ll tell you who I am … or more to the point, whose I am. I am God’s cherished child.

When I remember who I am and whose I am … in company with others … my worries fade into the background and I can get on with the task at hand.

Look intently, you all, at the birds flying in the sky

And stop worrying. What’s the point?

Instead, focus on God’s kingdom and his righteousness.

Consider how God cares for the birds. They don’t worry about planting, growing, harvesting and storing what they need to sustain life.

God cares for them. Aren’t we more valuable to him than birds?

————–

PS I still don’t have a final topic for my academic work approved but am getting close, and feel hopeful about it being useful to God’s kingdom and righteousness. Worrying hasn’t been helpful but the prayer walks and daily reflections have been, as well as discussions, written and face-to-face, with key people. I’m getting excited now.