Sparrows

 

Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? And one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. (Matthew 10:29, KJV)

           

A long time ago a friend commented on Matthew 10:29 by saying, “A lot of good it did the sparrow!”

            Her comment left me speechless then, and even now, thirty-six years later, the cynicism of the observation troubles me. A passage of scripture meant to comfort hit a sour note for her. To her God merely observed a sparrow drop dead, and He registered an aviary statistic. He knew what happened, and that was that. Distant omniscience at work.

            The cynical idea reminds me of the song “From a Distance.” God is interested in humanity but with a good bit of space in between, as if we are too messy to be near. I remember shopping for Prison Fellowship’s Angel Tree one Christmas and hearing that song in a store. It arrested me in the same way my friend’s comments did. I wanted to say, “But He isn’t far away.” Yet just when I mentally countered, I had to admit that He was indeed in his Heaven, which seemed very far from me. It was the same “yes but” feeling I got from my friend’s comment.

            My modest outdoor aviary—a couple of feeders, a cake of suet, and  a bird bath—gives me hours of enjoyment as a multitude of feathered friends enjoy my offerings. Sparrows don’t impress me, however.  Although they’re decorated with more than one color, they seem drab, very ordinary, so plentiful.  They feed together, chirp commonly, and fly off at the least provocation. To my consternation, they devour a lot of food, too.

            Since last winter, though, I’ve endeavored to study sparrows more closely to gain a greater appreciation. Even in New Testament times they were “a dime a dozen.”  Who paid much attention to a sparrow? It seems no one did, not then and not now.

But God did and does.  How far away could God be if he takes note of the smallest, ordinary things? Jesus cited sparrows to illustrate how much God notices and cares about little birds that people overlook. Doesn’t that tell us that He is close after all? If God is so far away, why would he notice a sparrow or care about one more prisoner’s child, when there are thousands who wouldn’t get a Christmas gift? If He were so far away, wouldn’t He just make note of one hurting child for his statistical records? Why would He touch my heart or anyone else’s to give a Christmas gift?

Our world is broken; we are broken. God is in his Heaven and bending very near, overseeing each sparrow, every hurting child, all peoples and events, always working perfect purposes , which will one day be clear.  Even for fallen sparrows.