Originally published March 31, 2008

Around a year and a half ago I felt in urging in my spirit to witness and try to understand the many parts of the body of Christ. I began to pray for a spiritual anatomy lesson so that I might be a beacon of hope not just to those who have not yet embraced Love, but to those who have but are neck deep in negativty and prejudice within the church family as well.

I wanted to see everything that God has to offer. And I still do, don’t get me wrong, He has only just begun to show me the world, the shining and shimmering splendor. He has only begun to reveal to me the great inner workings of His hands through His people.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again and again. I truly feel that the book of the acts of the Holy Spirit was never intended to have an ending. The apostles have carried out their stories for two thousand years. The true sadness is in the realization that we have lost track of their stories; of our stories.

These stories desperately need to be told in order for God’s people to remember how He has moved throughout the earth, making great revelations through the lives of people who were less than great.

I prayed that God would reveal to me the many ways that He uses his dysfunctional children to be His witness. I found that when you pray a bold prayer, God will always answer. If He doesn’t, then you need to open your eyes and look, and open your ears and listen, and close your mouth and be quiet. I know this because He answered me.

I find a special admiration for the sparrow. Jesus spoke quite often about the tiny bird. Most people would just overlook the little creature because it bears such little significance in their lives. The sparrow brings little to the table.

I fancy myself to be like the sparrow. Small (in a global point of view) and clumsy, primitive, wandering, flitty, there are many characteristics of the sparrow with which I can identify.

I do not see myself like the eagle, majestic, powerful, and commanding. Eagles hunt and kill and devour. Eagles flood the skies and make their presence known. Eagles have razor sharp beaks and talons for tearing apart flesh and a war cry that can be heard for miles and miles. They are strong and move quickly. No, I am no eagle.

Nor do I see myself like the raven; the king of the scavangers. Ravens are black and intimidating, they are ruthless and unforgiving. Ravens are the intellectuals who think through their actions down to the most minute detail. Ravens are strong opportunists who cackle and criticise the other birds. I am surely not a raven.

Owls are admirable birds. Their wisdom and knowledge is accented by their keen sense of observation. they gobble down their food and digest upon it night and day. Their call is one of an eerie forbodance, but their eyesight is fixed only upon the far and not the near. Owls are alone and must be very lonely. I could not bear the burden of being an owl.

Then there are the pigeons and the seagulls. Filthy leeches who are so addicted to human beings and their cities and their foods. Born into an addiction of the world. These birds are widely regarded for being stupid, ungraceful, and brazenly selfish. If I were one of these moronic pests, I would ingest an alka-seltzer and go out with a bang.

Nor am I a parrot or a peacock, hiding behind my beauty or my loud mouth or my social skills; or canary that makes a pretty song despite being locked away within a cage.

No, I am definitely a sparrow. Sparrows are communal birds who make nests for short periods of time. Their nests are never organized and are usually piled into something that is already there. Sparrows adapt top their environment and can live off of scraps and leftovers. Sparrows feed on the seeds that the sower throws that do not take root. They scavange, and are omnivorous, but are not disgusting like the vultures. Sparrows make an effort to live free and live light.

Sure, sparrows might not be the cleanest birds. They might be a little rough around the edges. But they are clever, and crafty, and very friendly. Sparrows are gregarious and live in medium to large sized community flocks. The sparrow belongs to the genus of Passer. How appropriate as we sparrows are often passers as well. We pass through different towns and experiences, living out as much love as possible. The sparrow isn’t known for its perfect song, but they do sing, and sometimes it is beautiful.

Jesus once told his disciples, “Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows.” (Matt 10:29-31, NASB)

I am happy enough knowing that my loving Father won’t let me fall without His blessing, let alone to know that He has my hairs counted and values me more than the sparrow. I’m content being a sparrow.

The cool thing about these birds is that God made them all. they all serve a purpose. They all have a reason for being. they all play a pivotal role in the unfolding of the world’s inner workings. This is all a part of God’s master plan that we cannot even begin to fully comprehend.

I do not even always comprehend what the Holy Spirit wants me to see. Sometimes it takes a few weeks to sink in.

In the past eighteen months, I have been humbled to witness the joy and unashamed adoration of the charistmatic people. Long have I stood with arms crossed and eyes rolled. I do not need to dissertate the dogma or the theological differences, but I have learned to appreciate the mostly genuine and childlike faith and love of their worship.

I have seen pastors of super mega churches and slept in their homes. Long have I been critical of those who God has entrusted with so many resources. Although if it were me, I would hope that I would live more modestly, their generosity has opened their doors to their home to countless sparrows like myself.

Perhaps I owe an apology to the people who devote themselves to living in a seemingly empty state of grace. The folks who live by the law. I have been harsh on those who preach with extremely deep conviction and who hold up a standard that is high and intimidating and to me not fun or free at all. However, many of these men and women exercise such incomperable devotion and discipline. Their self sacrifice goes beyond their time and resources, but in the very way they craft their lives.

And what of the people with their eyes trans fixed upon the future. They delve deep into the imagery of the prophets and of the world’s current affairs, drawing paralells and charting out fulfilled prophecies. It is not our business to know the day, for even the angels do not know the day that Christ will return, but these men and women keep their eyes open as a lookout. They follow the scriptures through deep study and through heavy research. Their prudent efforts remind us of how close Christ is to returning and how urgent we ought to be about our father’s business.

I have seen wealth and I have seen poverty and I see the poor in riches and the poor and spirit and rarely are the poor in riches the same as the poor in spirit. Quite the opposite, most of the wealthy people that I have seen have been so miserable. But I am starting to realize that God made us all. We are all different, and that is absolutely beautiful.

I was at a three day cross-denominational (including protestant, orthodox, and catholic) men’s retreat and one of the spiritual directors, who was a Methodist minister, spoke to us, and specifically to my heart, that as a methodist, he had no right and no ability to claim that he and his donimination had the market cornered on the truth found in disciplines and works that are inherently argued about. As long as we have our core, which is found in the trinity: God the creator, Jesus the redemeer, and Holy Spirt the motivator, as well as the Bible’s truthful account of history, and the call to live out God’s love, then we have the foundation necessary to bring about a world revolution.

We are many parts of one body. If we can stop arguing about our differences for a few minutes and recognize the complexity of the human body and the infite complexity of the spiritual body of Christ, then even greater things can be accomplished. If we can show grace and mercy to the small parts of our dogmatic doctorine and recognize that God has flexibility for all of us to be used for His greater good, than we will be able to move. Until that day, we remain crippled and crawling.

I am a sparrow. I flutter here and there. I live small and live lightly. I carry small burdens because I have learned to pass up the larger burdens to my Jesus. My song is not perfect, but it is beautiful.

Come sing it with me?