It's Time to Fly! Sermon 9.1.13

     On September 1 I filled a pulpit vacancy at our church in Baker City.  The following is the basic text of the sermon, along with some of the pictures that were part of PowerPoint illustrations.  I included a few other appropriate Scribbles from the service at the end, one of which was our bulletin cover.  

Scriptures:  Psalm 91, Isaiah 40:28-31, Deuteronomy 32:11

IT’S TIME TO FLY!

I have been mulling the idea for this service over and over in my mind for over a year.  It is based on two different articles I read about eagles, one by a Pentecostal pastor Adedotun Ojelabi and a portion of a book Ask God Tough Questions by Presbyterian pastor and former Senate chaplain, Dr. Lloyd Ogilvie.  It has been on my TO DO list: write out the eagle sermon, offer to preach when a need arises.  But, I am slowly learning that God truly works in God’s uncanny ways, for I needed to “wait for the Lord to renew my strength”.  I needed to wait for God’s timing, because as I began to really work through this, it became very clear to me that the wait had been important.  That NOW was the time for the message to be heard. 

With that as a rather vague intro….let’s talk EAGLES!    

What magnificent creatures!  Eagles are mentioned in the Bible at least 32 times.  How are we, as Christians, like an eagle?

Job 29:27-28 reads,

Does an eagle wait for your command
    to build its nest high in the mountains?

 It makes its home on the highest rocks
    and makes the sharp peaks its fortress.

Eagles live high. They are birds of high character. They make their nests on high, they soar to great heights.  The Eagle Rank is the highest rank in scouting. To put ourselves on the standard of eagles isn’t to gloat or pump ourselves up with egoism, but to point ourselves to what we can be in and through God.  To inspire us to build our nests higher and closer to the Kingdom of God.
 

Eagles have incredible vision.  They observe and watch, they perceive all that is happening around them.  If we look at the world with eagle acuity coupled with God-vision, we can see the hopes and dreams of God…and put them into action. 

Eagles are powerful and strong and great warriors.  They will fight for a cause (or a meal).  Do we tackle our God-given mission with the strength and persistence of an eagle?

Eagles are survivors.  They have long lives and live in all conditions, hostile or hospitable.  They have an inner strength that allows them to adapt.  Eagles don’t give up.  Can we say the same? Are we like an eagle?

Eagles don’t deal in retribution or revenge.  They often battle their enemies by simply soaring to new heights – out of reach.  Is this not an example we should follow?

Eagles can go without food for days.  Often this happens during molting.  There are times in our lives when we must go without – physically, emotionally, and spiritually.  But God can and does use these times to make us stronger.  Perhaps, these are the times when we “wait for the Lord for new strength, to mount up on the wings of eagles, to not tire or grow weary!”

So that’s just a little review on general eagle characteristics, But the heart of this message come from the Deuteronomy 32:11 scripture and the training methods used by eagles to teach their young to fly. 

The scripture again…

Like an eagle that stirs up its nest, that hovers over its young,

He spread His wings and caught them,

He carried them on his pinions, The Lord alone guided them.

In this passage we hear about eagles, but we also discover some major characteristics of our God.  God disturbs, God develops, and God delivers. 

The destiny of an eaglet is to fly.  But the nest is a warm and comfortable place.  The nest is safe and predictable.  Food is provided, and there are siblings for companionship! The nest is EASY!  Why would an eagle (or myself) ever want to leave the nest?  Because you can’t learn to fly sitting in the middle of comfort and easy. 

So what does the Parent eagle do?  She disturbs the nest, she stirs things up, she creates dissatisfaction with the accommodations, she empowers the eaglets to desire growth and change. 

God often must do the same for us.  We become complacent, as individuals, as a church, as a community.  We become comfortable because it is easy. It is what we know.   So…God quietly begins to close doors in order to force us to open others.  God stirs within us a desire for a greater good.  God gives us a chance to grow out of adversity and unrest, out of having our nest stirred up. 

Do the eagles resist the disturbance?  Perhaps at first.  But the disturbance, the unrest in the nest, prepares them for the next step:  FLIGHT!!  When God stirs us up, do we resist?  Usually. We don’t like change.  But eventually, can we not accept God’s nudge and with excitement say, “I’m ready, God!  Let’s fly!”

And so, the eagles jump from the nest.  And, at first, they fall…..

     Which brings us to the other traits of God.  God develops and God delivers.  Or as the scripture says, “She hovers over her young”.  In Hebrew the term translates to broods.  It is an active term of creation, not just over-protective care.  It is not a one-time shove and a prayer for a good fall.  Rather, the parent eagle encourages her young to the edge of the nest, shows them flight, and then gently nudges them off! 

But the mother doesn’t fly off in the distance and think, “Job well done, another set of babies on their own!”  The parent eagle remains, ready to deliver, to swoop in and catch the fledglings whenever they get in danger of true peril. They are forced to open their wings and try. But she is ready to spread her wings and catch them.  Over and over and over again.  She will develop and deliver until the baby eaglets can fly on their own.

    

   What a leap of faith to first jump from the nest!  No wonder God sometimes has to push us off!  Do we not trust that our Parent God will be there to catch us?  Do we not have the faith of an eaglet?  The mother eagle doesn’t expect the baby to soar on the first try, but rather to fly a little further each time, knowing secure wings are below for rescue.  God doesn’t expect us to soar all at once, but rather gives us the knowledge and abilities for flight as we need them. 

        Last spring in Tucson, I was sent out with a young CHRPA worker to install a toilet.  My previous knowledge of toilets was

pretty much – sit and flush - rather dead in the center of the nest.  I was not at all ready to fly.  But God gave me a nudge.  The toilet was damaged.  We had to take parts out of the floor.  Needless to say it wasn’t a pretty sight and I was pretty glad that my partner had jumped at least once before from the nest.    I had to leap as well.   But step by step, God was there to swoop in and show us what to do.  I learned that day that it is hard to leap, but it is ok, because God really doesn’t make you fly any further than you can. To simply dare to try what is at hand is all God really asks, even in so mundane a task as a toilet repair.  

I picture in this lesson an Eagle Trinity:  Our Mother-Father God, stirring up and disturbing our nest; Christ, showing us how to fly, Christ, showing us how to live and love;  and the Holy Spirit soaring with us, wings of wind and flame, lifting us back up when we fall, and empowering us to try once again. 

        Each time we take off from the nest of our lives in trust and faith, we fly just a little further.  We reach new heights and become the eagles God created us to be.  Learning to fly isn’t a one time process, flight is a life-long gift from God! 

        So….why now?  Why did I need to ‘wait on the Lord” to deliver this message? 

        Because I think God has been stirring our nest.  God has been making life at First Presbyterian and in Baker City just a little uncomfortable in order to prepare us to fly once again.  Changes are stirring things up, possibilities opening for reaching out, new directions for music and more.  I think we are on the edge of the nest, knowing something more is out there, knowing we are programmed to fly, … and just a little afraid to jump. 

        Nest stirring can be painful.  We need our eagle acuity to be sure that it is God creating the unrest and not other birds.  We need our strength of eagle character to be persistent in working our way to the nest edge.  Or perhaps we need to spiritually fast and ‘wait for the Lord’ to know when the timing is just right to jump. 

        But jump we must, because eagles either fly or they die! 

        Where is God calling us as a faith community?  Where is God asking us to take a leap of faith?  How uncomfortable will God make us as we say ‘No’ over and over to change before we are willing to dare, to take the leap of faith, and soar on the wings of eagles.     It’s time to move to the edge. It’s time to jump.  It’s time to fly!  Amen.

Bulletin Cover