Good day!
Are not
two sparrows sold for a penny?
·
A few
years ago, we had birds as “pets” in our home. These Zebra Finches made happy
noises and were entertaining to watch. We actually bought one for a penny. We
called him “Bull” and he had a ‘handicap’ - a noticeable ‘under bite’ which
prevented the birdie from being sold. So we ‘adopted’ him and it cost us one
penny since he had to be ‘sold’ for inventory purposes. He was a fine bird and he
never knew he had a problem. So we see how inflation has set in since Jesus’
time when you could buy TWO birds for a penny! Since we have cats now, no more
birdies in the house.
·
Be that
as it may… Jesus’ words in today’s Gospel reading are both challenging and
comforting. He speaks of persecution, family betrayal, people talking trash
about his disciples, and ‘taking up the cross’ as the challenges of
discipleship. There can be no doubt about such challenges and some of us have
faced those exact things. We must take up the cross daily and endure all that
might mean. It goes far beyond things we often equate with ‘taking up the
cross’, that is with illness, body pains, or the thousand natural shocks That flesh is heir to…
(Hamlet, Act III, scene i) The cross of
Christ calls us to be like Christ and that carries the reality of enduring what
he endured, for his sake.
·
Some
might say we are to grit our teeth and bear all that might come because that is
what it means to be a disciple, a follower of Jesus Christ. If that is the
case, then taking up the cross requires us to suffer, suffer, suffer, and
somehow enjoy it as if it were the primary thing God has ordained for us.
·
Jesus’
words to us in today’s Gospel reading also brings us some comfort in the midst
of all the warnings. What does he tell us? Nothing less than this: 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.
·
Do we
really believe that God knows the name of each and every sparrow? Do we really
believe that God has counted all the hairs of each of our heads? (An easier
task than it used to be for some of us.) We might wonder about all these
things, but Jesus said them so that what he finally said would have more
weight: So do not be afraid: you are of more value than many sparrows.
·
This
might not be taken as a guarantee against suffering or humiliation for the name
of Jesus, but it does assure us that whatever we might have to endure is not
forgotten or glossed over by the one who made us. It assures us that we are
known intimately, through and through, even to the point of numbering all the
hairs on our head, which is a way of saying nothing about us escapes God’s
notice. It is this promise that sees us through the challenges of discipleship,
·
If that
somehow frightens us in our sinfulness, there is more than one final assurance.
We are told that we are worth more than many sparrows. We are also told that
what Jesus endured for us might be what we will have to endure for A
disciple is not above the teacher, nor a slave above the master… And we
should remember that Jesus took up the cross before us and on behalf of us. As
Paul wrote … if we have been united with him in a
death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like
his. That is the promise of Baptism. This is our hope and a word of
promise in which we trust.
Are
not two sparrows sold for a penny?... So do not be afraid; you are of more
value than many sparrows.
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