22nd
Feed the Birds
In our back yard is a small wooden birdfeeder; I have to say, I am somewhat ambivalent about it. Maria is the one who keeps it full, remembering to buy seed when we run out.
For a while Maria was less than enthusiastic about the birdfeeder. Her lack of interest happened after she and Lincoln, our dog, found a hawk in the little mudroom off our kitchen. Lincoln saw the bird of prey first, and puffed up to twice his normal size, the hawk then screamed back at him, and Maria screamed next. The storm door on the outside of the mudroom had somehow come open over night and this was where Maria kept the bag of birdseed. It wasn’t seed the hawk was feasting on, rather a squirrel who had found the open door an invitation to partake of the seed. Needless-to-say, what was left when the hawk was disturbed mid-breakfast was a gruesome sight… and it became my job to clean it up.
Now we have a three-year-old little girl as part of our family and we are back in the practice of feeding the birds. I cannot shake from my head that song from Mary Poppins: “Feed the birds, tuppins a bag.” I am still a bit like father character George Banks, not understanding why one would feed birds, especially pigeons. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy sighting the blue jay and cardinal, but pigeons? His insistence that the children, Jane and Michael, save their money to put it in the bank leads to a run on the bank, and the sacking of Mr. Banks.
Jesus used the feeding of birds as illustration of God’s providence and our need to replace worry with trust: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 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? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?” (Matthew 6:25-27)
Jesus continues with two of my favorite verses: “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. (vv. 33-34)
Now, you might think that these verses are scriptural proof that we should cease the practice of feeding birds, but looking closer we might notice that Jesus is not saying, “Do not worry about the birds.” He does say that God provides for them, but does not indicate how.
As I watch Maria and Lily happily fill the backyard birdfeeder, and as I enjoy the visits from our feathered neighbors, I catch a glimmer of how God must feel providing for us. I also get the sense that we are part of God’s plan for providing for others, and this partnership with God is worth celebrating. Our God has provided this world with the resources to feed, clothe and care for its whole population. God has provided a way for us to do this and honor creation, not destroy it. But we must choose to trust that God has provided enough, and seek the kingdom of God—to become God’s partners in caring for the world.
There is great hope in this partnership, and great freedom from worry, selfishness and sinful, destructive behavior. It is through accepting these truths that we can join the chorus, accompanied by the songbirds:
I sing because I’m happy,
I sing because I’m free,
For His eye is on the sparrow,
And I know He watches me.
Peace,
Pastor Matt.
