More Than Sparows

Jesus said to the twelve disciples, “A disciple is not above the teacher, nor a slave above the master; it is enough for the disciple to be like the teacher, and the slave like the master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household!

“So have no fear of them; for nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered, and nothing secret that will not become known. What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light; and what you hear whispered, proclaim from the housetops. Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. And even the hairs of your head are all counted. So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows.

“Everyone therefore who acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge before my Father in heaven; but whoever denies me before others, I also will deny before my Father in heaven.

“Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.

For I have come to set a man against his father,
and a daughter against her mother,
and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;
and one’s foes will be members of one’s own household.

Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.” Matthew 10:24-39

More Than Sparrows

Too often it seems we are Hagar

hiding our baby in the bushes

turning away so as to not watch

our hoped for offspring die of thirst.

Despair and brokenness can come

like a terrible storm in the night

when we have been sent away packing

another more exciting has come along.

We have been faithful and constant

in the face of poverty and starvation

when other dine at the head table

while we have been kitchen slaves.

It can become hard to be grateful

when even survival is threatened

when the shadows overcome us

and we lie down in the dust to die.

But look, we are more than sparrows

the God of Abraham has become grown

into a source of constancy and  compassion

the Creator who loves all of Creation.

When shadows linger and sorrow's deep

we can return to the font and dive in

we can call upon the One who knows

our pain and holds us very close.

 

 

 

The Collect

O Lord, make us have perpetual love and reverence for your holy Name, for you never fail to help and govern those whom you have set upon the sure foundation of your loving­kindness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.