VBS Closing Service at Epiphany
on
Grace, mercy, and peace to
you in the name of God the Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
This week our children traveled on Eagle Flight 4031. Every flight has a number.
Ours was 4031 based on Isaiah 40:31.
(Isaiah 40:31) But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will
soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and
not be faint.
In the scriptures, God has likened his people to many things. For example, they are described as being like branches on a vine, trees by a river, a light on a hill, sheep, salt, a runner in a race, a wrestler, a soldier and as our text in Isaiah implies - an eagle. Today we are going to focus our attention on becoming "God's Eagle Christians."
I'm really glad that it's the eagle and not one of the other birds that God chose to identify us with. He could have likened us to a variety of other birds if he had so desired, and rightly so, because we display many of their characteristics. He could have likened us to macaws – loud and noisy, ostriches – big and not very graceful, or even the dodo bird – for obvious reasons.
He very well could have likened us to chickens. Let me give you some chicken facts to show you why I'm glad God said we are to become like eagles and not chickens.
Chickens are crowd followers. If a chicken sees a bunch of chickens running across the chicken yard, he will take off after them. It doesn't matter that he doesn't know where they are going or why they are going there. He follows along because he doesn't want to miss out on anything the majority is doing.
Chickens naturally "squabble and fight" over things in the chicken yard. If one finds a nice juicy bug to eat, suddenly they all want it. They’ll chase each other, trying to take it away from each other. They are funny that way. They can walk around a bug or a grasshopper all day and not pay any attention to it, but the moment one decides he wants it, they all decide they want it and the chase is on.
They have no interest in the heavens, the skies. They are content to live in the chicken yard, walking around with their eyes on the ground, scratching in the dirt looking for something to eat. Most of them will never try to fly. They are earthbound birds.
Living the chicken life can never compare to living the eagle life. Chicken living is so limited, so confining, so predictable, and so boring. However, living the eagle life – that's another story.
When we hear the word eagle, our minds envision an eagle soaring in the atmosphere, effortlessly riding the wind currents high above the earth; majestic in appearance. He is King of the Sky, master of his domain. With keenness of eye, he spies his prey and swooping down to earth with tremendous speed and sharp strong talons set, snatches up its meal and soars back to its nest to feast.
There is something special about the eagle and for centuries it has been recognized by nations, kingdoms and empires as the King of the birds. Its image has been reproduced on coins, seals, emblems and flags. And God in his Word tells us that of all the birds of the air, it is the eagle that his people are to be identified with. He is calling us to be "spiritual eagles."
My friends, just as it is with earthly eagles, so it is with God's spiritual eagles. We, too, were made to experience heavenly heights in the spirit. To spread our wings of faith and ride the heavenly winds of the Holy Spirit. It's inherent in us. It is in our blood. It is in our nature. Our new nature, as believers, demands it. As eaglets of God, there is an inborn tendency in us to mount up and soar to spiritual levels we've never experienced before. “Since, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.” (Colossians 3:1-2) “God raised us up with Christ (to soar?) and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus.” (Ephesians 2:6)
Have you soared lately? That's what eagles do and God is calling us to be his spiritual eagles. It's true that chickens and eagles are both birds, but a chicken is an earth bound creature. It can flop and fly a little, but it can scarcely get its feet off the ground. This is not true of the eagle.
While walking one day, a farmer found an eagle egg. He took it to the hen house and placed it under a setting hen who had several eggs under her. In time, all the eggs hatched and out of the eagle eggshell came, to her way of thinking, the oddest looking chicken she had ever seen, with the oddest voice she had ever heard. When the other chicks chirped, this one would screech. When the mother hen clucked, all but this ugly one would come running. There simply seemed to be no understanding between them. They spoke two different languages. So, because he was odd, all the others picked and pecked at him. Of course, he was odd. He was an eagle who was trying to live the chicken life.
One day while he was in the barnyard, a huge shadow passed over him. It was Father eagle soaring high above. Father eagle looked down and saw the little eaglet. Seeing it was one of his own kind, Father eagle swooped down giving a loud screech. The young eaglet looked up. Father eagle said to the eaglet, "What are you doing down there? You're not a chicken. You're an eagle. Eagles aren't made for barnyard living. The heavens are your domain. Come up here."
Now the little fellow wondered what to do. Up to now, the barnyard had been his home, but he really hadn't been happy there. He just didn't seem to fit in with barnyard living. All of a sudden the truth of who he was hit him. He discovered his true identity. Father eagle had given it to him. He wasn't a chicken. He was an eagle. Deep inside him he felt the urge to respond to Father eagle, but when he tried, he couldn't seem to get off the ground.
Father eagle screeched again, "Just make a jump and flap your wings. You can fly if you try." The little eaglet made a feeble jump, flapped his wings and landed on top of the barnyard fence post. Father eagle screeched again, "Child, jump higher, try again. Make the jump and I'll sweep under you and carry you on my wings." Little eaglet did what Father eagle asked him to do, and Father eagle did what he said he would do. A mighty jump of faith and little eaglet was riding on Father eagle’s wings on his first solo flight into the heavenly realm.
Saints of God, we are called to be God's eagle Christians, but many of you have been content to live the chicken life, confined to barnyard limitation in your spirit. A barnyard to the believer is any attitude, any mindset, any lifestyle that restricts us from being or accomplishing all that God has chosen for us to be or do in life. Our barnyard is that comfort zone we like to live in because it makes no demands of us that will challenge us to change. God the Father eagle calls to us in our barnyard and challenges us to spread our wings of faith and come up higher. Some respond and get as high as the barnyard post and settle there feeling like they've really accomplished something. But they need to make another jump of faith and set their wings in the promises of God's Word and let the wind of the Holy Spirit lift them up.
We may not want to live the chicken life, but we don’t know how to live any differently. We carry a lot of baggage around with us. Too much baggage to take off. I’m not talking about the extra baggage around our bellies or thighs, but the baggage on our shoulders, weighing us down. The world is pretty messed up and if you listen to the news, it doesn’t seem like its going to get any better. This weighs us down.
Then there are work issues. Who knows? Is the company you work for going to be around in a year or so? Is some new CEO who doesn’t even know you and what you are able to do going to decide that he could please his stockholders by downsizing you. This weighs you down. Or maybe you own your own business and you wonder if you’ve thought about everything and planned for every contingency. This weighs you down.
Then there’s your family. The people you love. You see your parents getting older; perhaps becoming infirm. You see your children struggling with this or that. Perhaps you’ve hit a rough patch in your marriage. When you were a kid you don’t remember that love was so difficult and so demanding. But that’s because you were always on the receiving end of it. And now you are called to be the one who gives it; called to be the one who loves. This, too, weighs you down.
But the greatest weight of all is our sin, our guilt, our shame. It disables us. It cripples us. It condemns us.
Who and what you need in your life
is Jesus. Jesus was promised as the journey of life began in
“But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings
like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”
God wants you to soar on wings like eagles. The way that happens is through the
changing of perspective. When you begin to entrust your life to God instead of yourself,
your perspective is changed. Everything in your life is dwarfed in comparison to
the largeness and authority of the Lord. He is bigger than any problem you might
face. “He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth.” (Isaiah 40:22) And as you
learn to trust him, you begin to see things from his perspective. He draws you upward
in faith, so that you begin to see a bird’s eye view of things, or more correctly,
a God’s eye view.
Trust in the Lord. Don’t be afraid to fly. You can soar with Christ. As effortlessly as an eagle spreads its wings and lets currents of air lift it up to lofty heights, so you will be lifted up above all your problems, temptations, and troubles. You will especially be lifted above your sins.
Those who hope in the Lord for their salvation will renew their strength. Fellow Saints, Christ has forgiven your sins. He has saved your soul. He has rescued you from hell and damnation. You have been broken free from the bonds of sin that keep you chained to an earthbound life of mediocrity. Satan can’t control you any longer and keep you cooped up in the chicken pen. The world around you can squabble and bicker with you like a bunch of chickens, but you can soar above all that.
God has made you his children through Christ Jesus. God is the Father eagle. You are his little eaglets. Deuteronomy 32:11 describes God as “an eagle that stirs up its nest and hovers over its young, that spreads its wings to catch them and carries them on its pinions.” Just as the parent eagle continues to work with their young until they are fully trained - even so Father God continues to work with you, his young. Philippians 1:6, says that God “who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” God doesn't want us to settle for a barnyard walk. He doesn’t want us grubbing for worms or scratching for bugs like a pen full of chickens. He's determined that we're going to mount up with wings as an eagle. You, too, can soar like an eagle. God will raise you up on eagles’ wings. Amen.
And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Amen. (Philippians 4:7)