"You talk?" he asks.
"Yep," the dog replies.
Shocked, and needing some time to recover, he asks, "So, what's your story?"
The dog says, "Well, when I discovered I could talk, I wanted to be useful, so I contacted the CIA. For more than eight years, they jetted me from country to country, placing me in rooms with spies and world leaders. Because no one figured a dog would be eavesdropping, I was one of their most valuable spies. But that life takes its toll, and I wasn't getting any younger, so I decided to settle down.
“I got married, we had pups, and then I joined the TSA. Mostly, I just wandered around the airport, hung out near suspicious looking people, and listened. I uncovered some incredible stuff and was awarded a bunch of medals. Now, I'm retired."
The guy is amazed. He asks the owner what he wants for the dog.
"Ten dollars."
"Ten dollars? Why are you selling him so cheap?"
"First, he's a liar. I don’t believe he did half that stuff. Second, even if he did do some of it—well, you heard—there’s not a shred of humility in him. And who needs an arrogant dog?!”
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There are, of course, dogs in the Bible, and it’s entirely possible some of them were arrogant. But, if we want to explore humility, we’ll have to switch to birds.
Witness the humble sparrow. People purchased sparrows to use as sacrifices in the Temple. When Jesus referenced them during His ministry, He pointed out that His audience could buy "two for a penny" and "five for two pennies." The Law of Supply and Demand would suggest that, at that price, they must have been very common indeed.
In this week's scriptures, sparrows and swallows stand in for the common and most humble among us. Psalm 84 declares that at God’s altar even the sparrow finds a home, that the swallow builds a nest “where she may lay her young.” The meaning: Everyone, even the lowliest, even those marked for sacrifice, are welcome to rest in God’s house.
In the Luke passage, Jesus goes even further to clarify: The humble (like the despised tax collector) are far more welcome in God's house than those (like the Pharisee) who are pleased with their own moral performance and look down on people.
Perhaps you haven’t lived a life filled with excitement and rewards. Perhaps you aren’t the model of moral perfection. Maybe quite the opposite. If you find yourself feeling like an imposter, feeling that your own complement of shortcomings may overwhelm you, and that you can only cry to God for mercy, know that God welcomes you as He does the sparrow.
Come and rest. There is always a place for you at God's altar.
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PHOTO (and some thoughts on “Building a Nest in God’s Presence”):
https://www.blockislandtimes.com/affiliate-post/building-nest-gods-presence/31306
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Join us for food and fellowship on Friday mornings. We meet DaySpring’s Lectionary Breakfast at Our Breakfast Place and on Zoom** at 8:00. Everyone is welcome. We excel at eating, reading the Bible, discussing it, and laughing…
...in all humility.
Blessings,
Steve
**Contact me for the Zoom link
NOTE: Zoom allows you to mute the camera and the microphone if you don’t wish to be seen or heard.
SCRIPTURES FOR SUNDAY AND THE COMING WEEK
Find them here:
https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts.php?id=285
Print them here:
https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/pdf//Cx_Proper25.pdf
Joel 2:23-32
Psalm 65
Jeremiah 14:7-10, 19-22
Psalm 84:1-7
2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18
Luke 18:9-14
Proper 25 (30) (October 23, 2022)
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