FOODFORTHOUGHT

There is a parable about a wild goose shot down by a local hunter.
Only wounded in one wing, he landed safely in a barnyard. Naturally
the local turkeys and chickens were quite startled by this sudden
visitor from the sky. As they became more comfortable with this
stranger, however, it was only natural to ask about what they had
seen but never experienced: "Tell us what it's like to fly?"


"It's wonderful!" said the Goose who told story after story of his
flights. "It's so beautiful to soar out in the wild blue yonder! Why
this barn looks only an inch high and all of you look like tiny
specks from such a distance. First you fly high and then you can
glide and enjoy the astonishing scenery."


All the birds were quite impressed by the goose and his stories.
Later they asked him to tell more yarns about flying. Soon, it became
a weekly event for the goose to entertain all the barnyard birds.
They even provided a little box for him to stand on so everyone could
see him better.


But the strangest thing happened or maybe I should say… never
happened. While the domestic birds very much enjoyed hearing about
the glories of flight, they never tried to fly themselves. And the
wild goose, even though his wing healed, continued to talk about
flying but never actually flew again.


As a church pastor, I find this parable frightening. Why? Because it
hits too close to home. How easy it is to talk about being a
Christian without acting like one. How easy to stand in church and
say, "Jesus is Lord," without actually turning my life over to His
direction. How easy for us to sit in our comfortable seats and ignore
a world in desperate need of our witness. How easy for me to talk
ministry without actually doing anything. Talk is easy but you must
flex your muscles and really flap those wings to fly.


Jesus spoke to his disciples about what it takes to fly: "`If any of
you wants to be my follower,' he told them, `you must put aside your
selfish ambition, shoulder your cross, and follow me. If you try to
keep your life for yourself, you will lose it. But if you give up
your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will
find true life.'" (Mark 8:34-35)


"Shoulder your cross and follow me." Other versions of the Bible
quote: "Take up your cross and follow me." I used to think the cross
stood for the pain of being a Christian. In other words: "If you
really want to follow me, you must be willing to endure pain and
suffering." This is not exciting and also not completely true.
Although pain strikes us all, it's not what Jesus had in mind. If
this were about pain we would all keep `pain' diaries to see which
one suffers the most and `pain' winners would go to heaven.


So, what does it truly mean to `shoulder your cross and follow
Christ?'


Well, you're not going to believe this but I think Jesus is talking
about flying.


"What? Larry, have you lost your mind? Where is flying mentioned in
the Bible?"


Jesus is talking about being committed to your mission. Jesus
accepted suffering because that was his purpose. The cross was his
ultimate assignment and Jesus was committed to seeing it through to
the end. A bird's purpose is to fly but must first be committed to
the work and effort of flapping wings over and over in the process.
Our decision to take up the cross of Christ and follow God regardless
of the cost is our commitment to flap our wings and to keep flapping
until we finally fly.


But flying is the best part. It may be safer to stay in the barnyard
but look at what you miss. Imagine the beauty of soaring as you ride
the air currents? If we always live carefully protecting and watching
our own self-interests, making no effort for anyone but ourselves we
will miss the very best part of life: knowing our God-given mission
and having the satisfaction of carrying it out to the best of our
ability.


A song from the musical "Godspell" said it best: "Day by day, day by
day: Oh, dear Lord, three things I pray: to see thee more clearly,
love thee more dearly, follow thee more nearly, day by day. If we
learn from God to see more clearly, love more dearly and follow more
nearly we will take our cross and fly.

PRAYER
"Lord Jesus Christ, open the eyes of my heart to recognize your presence with me and to understand the truth of your saving word. Nourish me with your life-giving word and with the bread of life."

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