ON EAGLE'S WINGS
Rev. Mark F. Bartels
Epistle Lesson; Romans 5:6-11
Gospel Lesson; Matthew 9:35-10:8
Sermon Text; Exodus 19:2-4
In the book of Revelation, Chapter 12, there is a description of a great dragon that is chasing a woman. In verse 14 it says, "To the woman were given the two great wings of an eagle, by which she flew to a place of safety prepared for her." The dragon that is described in Revelation, Chapter 12 is Satan. And, that woman who is described in Revelation, Chapter 12 is you, His people, the believers in Jesus, God’s Church. It says of the woman, the believers, that we are given the two great wings of an eagle. Those wings that God has given to us enable us to fly to safety. Those wings are God’s almighty Word and God’s Promises, in His Word.
But to fly on those wings, to spread those wings and to rely on those promises with all of our weight, that is faith. The wings are God’s Word, and faith spreads those wings, leans into the promises of God, trusts The Word, and soars high into safety.
With that in mind, I want to tell you a little parable that was written 150 years ago. Once upon a time there were a bunch of barnyard geese. They were white, plump and tender. The farmer was fattening them up, so they could be eaten. And, all these geese knew that they were being fattened up by the farmer, to be eaten.
Since these geese could talk, they arranged to have divine services, church services, every Sunday morning. And so, these geese would waddle to the church service, each and every Sunday.
One of the ganders would stand up in front of the others and preach a sermon. The sermon would almost always go something like this: He would preach about how The Creator had endowed them with a great future and a great destiny. He would preach about how The Creator had given them with wings, so that they could fly! He would preach about how they could fly away to a great place of safety. And he would preach about how they would never be truly happy, until they would spread their wings and fly to that great place of safety.
The other geese would bow to each other and curtsy to one another, whenever The Creator’s name was mentioned.
And, when the service was over, they would tuck their wings behind them and waddle back home to the barn, because they were happy there. They were plump. They were tender. They were well cared for.
The next Sunday, they would again gather together. They would again hear about the wings that God had given them. They would again hear how they could use them to fly. And then they would tuck their wings behind them and waddle back home.
Eventually, all of them were eaten, because none of them ever did fly.
A man named Soren Kirkegaard, who was a Scandinavian philosopher, wrote that parable. He was writing about the condition of the Scandinavian Lutheran Church, 150 years ago. It was a period that is now known as Dead Orthodoxy.
Orthodoxy means that they had God’s Word. They had the true teachings of Scripture. They knew what God’s Word said and what God’s promises were. They had the wings! They had the wings that God had given them. They knew what God said about The Trinity. They knew what God said about justification by faith alone, in Christ alone, our Savior alone. They knew what God’s Word said about Heaven and Hell and about sin and guilt.
They had the wings that God had given them, but they didn’t fly. They were dead. Dead Orthodoxy. They didn’t spread those wings that God had given to them, and they didn’t fly.
They would come to church. They would hear about sin and guilt. And they would hear about Christ’s free forgiveness on the cross. They had the wings. But then they would go home, and their guilt didn’t really bother them. In fact, they enjoyed the sins that they were involved in. They felt no need to fly away to the safety of God’s forgiveness. Dead Orthodoxy. They knew The Word, they had the wings, but they didn’t fly.
They would come to church. Through God’s Word, they knew all about temptation. They knew how God’s Word promised them to be able to soar high above temptation and stand firm against Satan. They heard that in church. They had the wings. But then they would go home. They rather enjoyed the temptations and fell into them. They knew The Word, they had the wings, but they never flew. Dead Orthodoxy.
When we read today’s scripture lesson, God tells the Children of Israel, "You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt. How I carried you on eagle’s wings and brought you to myself."
God gave the Children of Israel wings, eagles wings, to soar and to fly. They were in slavery. They were in bondage. They were in trouble and there was no escape for them. But God gave them wings and they flew. They flew out of Egypt on the mighty wings that God had given to them. The ten plagues caused the Egyptians to let the Children of Israel go. And, when they reached the banks of the Red Sea, the waters were parted, and they soared across to safety. They soared across on the wings of an eagle that God had given to them.
But then, they tucked their wings behind them. They tucked their wings behind them! And when their spies went into the land that God was going to give to them, they tucked their wings behind them and said, "There are giants in that land. How can we ever defeat those giants?"
They had the wings, but they didn’t fly. They didn’t trust God’s promises. And, many of them died in the desert.
We have wings. We have wings and we can fly! We have the Word of God.
So, what about us? Are we like those barnyard geese? Do we come to church and hear about how God has saved us from our guilt. Do we hear how Christ has died for our sins, so our sins are fully and freely forgiven? Those promises are the wings that God has given to us, by which we can fly!
But then, do we waddle back home, not troubled by our guilt? Do we waddle back home and not worry about our sins? Do we waddle back home and not seek that mighty forgiveness that God gives us, and mount up on the wings of an eagle, soaring free from our guilt?
Are we like those barnyard geese? Do we come to church and hear about temptation? Do we hear how Satan tries to keep us in great danger, our souls in great danger, through temptations? Do we hear the Word of God, those promises of God, those mighty wings of an eagle that are given to us, by which we can soar and stand firm against the evil schemes of the devil?
But then, do we waddle back home, with our wings tucked behind us? Do we put ourselves smack dab right in the face of temptation, at home, at work, and at play? Don’t we spread those wings, soar and fly free from temptation, standing firm against the devil’s schemes?
We come to church and
we hear how
God promises to
protect us and
keep us safe,
in the face of any trouble,
in the face of any sorrow,
in the face of any pain.
Those are the wings of an eagle that God has given to us, by which we can soar high and free from any trouble, any sorrow, and any pain!
But then do we waddle back home and flap those wings feebly? Are we like the disciples, when they were in trouble and they didn’t trust God’s promises. Jesus said to them, "Oh you of little faith." They didn’t fly.
When we look at the wings that God has given to us, and our lack of faith, our lack of spreading those great wings of the eagle and soaring high about all the troubles, sin and guilt of this world, we see that we don’t fly as we should. We have to admit that we are sinners. We are weak in our faith. Our faith is little. We flap our wings feebly. We don’t deserve God’s love and we don’t deserve God’s grace.
What do we do then? That is when we must turn to the Word of God. That is when we must turn to the great Gospel message. That is when we must turn to the great wings of an eagle that God has given to us.
What does God say in scripture? It tells us that God has wings too. God has given us wings to soar free from the troubles of this world, all the troubles that Satan brings to us. But what did God do with His wings?
God spread His mighty wings
around us.
He did not fly away from danger and trouble,
but He flew right into this world,
right into the face of trouble and
right into the face of danger.
Jesus stood overlooking Jerusalem and said these words,
"How often I would have gathered you together,
like a hen gathers her chicks
under her wings."
You probably remember a couple of years ago there was a terrible, wild fire out west, in the forests. After that wild fire had passed, some firefighters walked through the burned forest, looking at the charred trees, and grass. As they walked along, they stumbled across a bird that was charred and dead. One of the firefighters used his foot to kick aside that charred bird, which was dead on the ground. And, much to the fire fighter’s surprise, out from under that dead bird’s wings, scurried little chicks. You see, that mother bird had wrapped her wings tightly around her chicks. In the face of danger, she had sacrificed her life, so that those little chicks could live.
Our mighty savior, Jesus Christ, came into this world and He spread His mighty wings around you! He stood in the face of that great fire of God’s wrath. And, as the fire of God’s anger over sin passed over Him, Jesus kept His wings spread tightly around you and kept you close to His heart. And there, Jesus sacrificed His life, for you! Jesus died and suffered the eternal torments of the fires of Hell, for you! And, you are free! God’s wrath has now passed over. The fire is gone. God is no longer angry at our sin, because Jesus bore it all and we are forgiven!
How can we not mount up on wings like eagles and soar
when our sin troubles us,
when there is guilt all around us,
when we see what we deserve for our sin,
when we know that we have the mighty promises,
we have the wings that God has given to us,
we have the Gospel message,
our sins are
fully and freely forgiven!
How can we not lean into the wind and rest our full weight on those promises of God in scripture and soar? Then, we are lifted up and be delivered from our guilt! We can trust the promises of God that say our sins are truly forgiven! We can trust the promises of God that tell us we are justified! We can trust the promises of God that say we are declared not guilty in God’s eyes! How can we not rely on those promises of God that say
Christ has become our sin
and
we have become His righteousness
and
we are forgiven!
Brothers and sisters we have wings. Let’s fly! Let’s mount up on wings like eagles and soar, free from the danger of guilt.
Brothers and sisters, how can we not mount up on wings like eagles, when you and I stand tempted in this world? (And, we will be tempted, day after day, by the Devil with his terrible, cunning schemes.) But, God has given to us the wings of an eagle. His Word. Through His Word, we can soar above those temptations.
Brothers and sisters how can we not lean into the wind and rest our full weight on those promises of God and soar, like an eagle, free. How can we not trust that when God says neither life, nor death, nor angels, nor demons, nor the present, nor the future, nor anything else in all of creation will be able to separate us from the love of God, that is in Christ Jesus, our Lord. How can we not soar on wings like eagles and stand free?
Brothers and sisters, when we have trouble, when we have sorrow, when we have pain, and God has given us wings, He has given us His Word, how can we not spread those wings, lean into the wind and rely on the full promises of God and be lifted up and soar on wings like eagles? How can we not rely on His promise that says,
"All things
work together for good
to those
who love God."
How can we not soar, trusting and relying that God will deliver His people?
Dear brothers and sisters, when we face that last great enemy, Death, how can we not spread the wings, the wings that God has given to us? How can we not lean into the winds of death, spread our wings and be lifted up and fly? How can we not fly through the gates of death and fly high? With God’s Word, we can soar high up to the Holy City, the Holy City of Jerusalem, God’s Heavenly Home! And there, fly through the Gates of pearl and land safely in that Heavenly Home that God has promised to us, for Jesus sake!
Brothers and sisters we have wings! We have the great wings of an eagle, from God! We have the Word of God!
When we go home today, will we waddle home and not fly?
No! Let’s spread our wings! Let’s rely on the promises of God! Let’s mount up on wings, like eagles and soar!
Amen.
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