“His eye is on the sparrow” Matthew 10:24-39

Matthew 10:24-39

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Pastor Tom Johnson, June 25, 2023

Jesus makes it clear that in this world we will always have trouble (John 16:33). Even father against son, daughter against mother, and in-laws against in-laws. Sadly, Christians all over the world face persecution for the name of Jesus. Last week five deep sea explorers were lost two miles deep on the ocean floor. It gripped the world. There was a great international effort to rescue these five. Each paid a quarter of a million dollars to see the wreckage of the Titanic. Also last week, more than 700 migrants and refugees shipwrecked off the coast of Greece. In contrast to the five titanic tourists, the effort to save the 700 poor migrants was small. Perhaps it’s because shipwrecks off the coast of Greece happen so frequently. More than 500 died. On the surface, it seems like the 700 were not worth the same kind of effort as the five.

Jesus’ words are for us, especially when we feel this kind of tension—when some people are regarded to be of less value—or when we feel less valued—when we feel tread upon, discarded, rejected, worthless. That’s why it makes us so mad when someone cuts us off—insults us—treats us like we do not matter. It’s why it also makes us so sad. It’s heartbreaking to feel invisible—when we don’t feel seen, heard, or valued—when our very existence seems inconsequential. Sometimes we feel like we are treated as worthless. And we, in our worst moments, can treat others like they are worthless. Jesus is there for us. He preps us for these dark valleys that may be ahead in our journey. He does not want us to live in fear. He does not want us to allow the world, the devil, or even ourselves—or anything—to kill our souls and crush our spirits.

As Jesus walks through the marketplace with his disciples, they see costly lambs for temple sacrifice. They see the gold and silver and hear the it clinking into the hands of the merchants. …And then there are the sparrows. Sparrows in the Bible are young, small birds. They were sold for temple sacrifice or ritual cleansing. You’ll remember birds were the poor person’s animal sacrifice. It’s what Jesus’ parents offered up after he was born—two young turtledoves according to the law of Moses. It was the Law’s gracious allowance for poor families such as Jesus’. Jesus says the value of sparrows were so low, it couldn’t be measured by individual sparrows—only in pairs—two sparrows for one penny. And “Yet,” Jesus says, “not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father.” For God, even one sparrow does not escape his infinite  attention and love. 

As I prepared this sermon, I watched the house sparrows, house finches, goldfinches, titmice, nuthatches, and woodpeckers take turns at our feeder. Jesus invites us to think about God’s infinite love for each of those creatures. He knows every bird personality. The unique color of every feather and plume. God knows each song they sing. He knows every voice—not just of the species but of every individual bird and creature in and around the church, the millions of birds on Long Island, the billions in North America and around the world. As the Gospel song says, “His eye is on the sparrow.” Jesus uses the diminutive “birdies” highlighting his tenderness and fatherly love for all creation. God has a relationship—yes, you heard me—God has a relationship with each little bird in the world. He knows them not en masse—not in pairs—but as individuals. 

Last week we came across a young robin down the street from here on Candlewood Path. The birdie must have fallen from her nest. We were concerned she was in the grass the first time we passed her but in the street the next time. Then we found her in the grass again the next day. And then she was gone. We could not keep an eye on her for long as we passed by. But God always had— and has—his eye on that robin chick. Jesus says, “Not one of them—not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father.” He is always with each of those tiny creatures. He is their Creator and Heavenly Father.

So Jesus says, “even the hairs of your head are all counted.” Each of us is so intimately known by God—each one of us means so much to God that he keeps track of the number of hairs on our head just as he does each bird of the air. Think about a person you love—someone you know very well. Have you ever thought about sitting behind her or him and counting the individual hairs coming out of their heads? If one of us actually tried to count the hairs on someone else’s head we would say that person is out of their mind or crazy. So God goes bananas over every monkey. His love goes nuts over squirrels. His is cuckoo for every bird and creature. 

So, Jesus tells us, God is even more crazy about each one of us. Nothing will happen to you or me apart from our Creator and Heavenly Father. He is always with us. He is there to share in our suffering and difficulties—even giving his life on the Cross and rising again so that each of us will be with him forever. We cannot quantify the love of God anymore than God can quantify our worth to him. Both his love is immeasurable and our worth is incalculable. The sparrows being sold two for one penny are precious and priceless to him. You and I are of more value than many sparrows. We are precious and priceless beyond measure.

“How majestic!” (Psalm 8)

Psalm 8

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Pastor Tom Johnson, June 4, 2023

I hope you have seen the wonder of the night sky. City lights make it hard to see. Sunken Meadow, Robert Moses, and Montauk Point are great places to go. There is a lot less light pollution. Remote places like northern Maine are even better. Psalm 8 is written by a contemplative stargazer. He steps out into the deep darkness. The sky lights up—the moon, stars, wandering planets, shooting stars (meteorites), comets, breathtaking sunrise and sunsets. He is awestruck. “O YHWH, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!” 

Scientists have some mind-blowing theories: that something—Someone—we know it was God—ignited the Big Bang 13 billion years ago. Billions of galaxies were formed. Each galaxy has billions of stars. …and here we are on one planet, orbiting around one star we call the sun in a galaxy called the Milky Way. They believe the universe is expanding and it takes light 13 billion years to go from one part of the universe to the other. They make baffling discoveries all the time. The universe is not just expanding at vast speeds but accelerating. 

Last year, the largest telescope ever made was sent into space one million miles away from the earth. They had a long list of what they want to take pictures of. They also playfully pointed the telescope at a random place in the dark sky. One scientist described what they did: if you were to put a grain of sand on the end of your finger and extend it all the way out toward the night sky. That is how small of a random area they chose is. They expected it to be empty space—nothingness. Instead, just in that one picture alone they did not see just a few stars but thousands of galaxies—the light of some galaxies looked warped because as their light passed other galaxies, their gravity bent the light. As a result, they are now questioning the size and age of the universe. They once said that there are billions of galaxies. They now are estimating trillions of galaxies—three more zeros. The human mind cannot fathom such numbers. “O YHWH, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!”

So the stargazer of our Scripture from Psalm 8 says, “When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars you have set in their courses, what are mere mortals—what is humanity that you should be mindful of them, human beings that you should care for them?” It does not take a telescope for us to realize that, in the vastness of creation, we humans are but a speck on the earth. The earth is a speck orbiting the sun. The sun is a speck in our galaxy. And our galaxy is a speck in the universe. 

I wonder if this stargazer was pondering creation—bringing to mind God’s wonderful sense of humor from our reading in Genesis. Almost every religion of the day considered the stars and planets to be lower case “g” gods. Our reading says, “he made the stars also.” Everything you see is God’s handiwork. The universe is so small compared to God that it says he made it with his fingers. What is the Big Bang for us is just the wiggle of his anthropomorphic fingers. So who are we mere mortals—flesh and blood that he would even have us in mind? How can he be both Supreme Being and Heavenly Father?

How futile is it to search for our significance in this world? If we don’t see the world through God’s eyes, our small, blue planet is negligible in the vast scheme of the universe. Our little lives should not matter at all. We’ll never find significance in this world. In our search for significance and meaning apart from Christ, we will compete with one another needlessly for attention. In so doing, we push others out of the way and step on them—all because of our limited vision of God and the universe.

I wonder if this stargazer was thinking about God’s promise to make Abraham a great nation and to bless all the families of the earth—bringing to mind God’s wonderful sense of humor when he says to Abraham, “Count the stars—if you can—so shall your descendants be.” So we find our identity, our security, and meaning of life not in ourselves—or even in the vastness of the universe—but in God the Father who created us, God the Son who redeems us, and God the Holy Spirit who spiritual molds and shapes us.

God intimately knows us just as he has named all the trillions upon trillions of stars. His thoughts toward us—how vast is the sum of them—more than the sand of the sea. You and I are each fearfully and wonderfully made—knit together by the fingers of God and he says, “It is very good.” You are the apple of his eye.  Each of us has God’s vast attentiveness and vast love. There is nothing more mind-blowing than the Creator of the universe deeply interested in every aspect of our individual lives, our growth as human beings, and as royal children of God. There is nothing more mind-blowing than sending his Son into our world to take on our humanity—a little lower than the angels—to share our suffering and bear our sin—to take all the bad to the Cross, die, and rise victoriously from the dead—so that we know who we are and whose we are. There is nothing more mind-blowing than the Holy Spirit strengthening us, helping us to begin to comprehend “the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses human understanding” (Ephesians 3:18,19)—the vastness of the heart of God for all creation, you, and me. 

“O YHWH, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!”

O Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder
Consider all the words thy hand hath made,
I see the stars, I hear the mighty thunder,
Thy pow’r throughout the universe displayed;
Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to thee,
How great thou art! How great thou art!
          (“How Great Thou Art” (LBW 532 v. 1)