Tag Archives: God's nurture

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Like An Eagle

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“Like An Eagle”

Deuteronomy 32:1-3, 7-12 – June 25, 2023

            Almost two years ago my husband and I went to visit our daughter over Labor Day in St. Louis at graduate school. On the way back, we drove north and stopped at Pere Marquette State Park, at the confluence of the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers. In case you did not know, there are bluffs and rock formations at many points on the Mississippi River. Just the place for eagles to nest and raise their young eaglets! Just like in places around Pere Marquette State Park.

            We are focusing on a Bible reading today from the book of Deuteronomy, in the Hebrew Scriptures. The fifth book of the Bible, a part of the revered Torah of the Jews, this reading comes from chapter 32, near the end of this retelling of the Law – God’s Law – to the people of Israel. And, Deuteronomy also restates God’s covenant, or contract, with God’s people.

            This reading from Deuteronomy comes in the middle of somewhat dry reading material. Most people do not particularly sink their teeth into talk of laws, statutes, and commands, which is what a large part of this book is all about. However, chapter 32 is the last song of the elderly Moses, shortly before his death. Moses’s song has many words of warning for the people of Israel, but it also has words of warmth and nurture: like the passage we look at today!

            This is how Moses describes the relationship between the people of Israel and the Lord! 10 In a desert land God found him, in a barren and howling waste. The Lord shielded him and cared for him; God guarded him as the apple of his eye, 11 like an eagle that stirs up its nest and hovers over its young, that spreads its wings to catch them and carries them aloft.”

            Right here, Moses is talking about a mama eagle! I suspect Moses and perhaps many other keen-eyed people from Israel had observed eagles and their behavior. Especially, in this case, their nesting behavior, and how the mother eagles interact with their young.

            While my husband and I were at the state park, I want to let you all know that we both were especially fascinated by an actual eagle’s nest in the interpretive center. I suspect you all are familiar with the typical bird’s nests around here, nests from robins, sparrows, cardinals, and other types of birds. The eagle’s nest is absolutely gigantic, compared to a nest that is smaller than six inches around. We could stand in the eagle’s nest and have it be higher than our waists.

            Moses sang about the mama eagle stirring up her nest. More importantly, the eagle hovers over the young eaglets in the nest. This Hebrew verb is the same verb that is used in Genesis 1. Genesis 1:1 (the summary statement for this first chapter of the Bible) says that “God created.” God created the heavens up above and the earth beneath. And in particular, verse 2 describes the Spirit of God as “hovering over the waters.”

If you remember back two weeks ago, I preached on Genesis 1. In the original language of the Hebrew Scriptures, “Spirit” is feminine. What’s more, the Spirit of God hovering or brooding over the waters is – according to the Hebrew language – a feminine Spirit. This verb “hovering” is also mentioned here in Deuteronomy 32, where the mother eagle is protective towards her young in the nest. The “hovering” of God is a mothering activity! Here in Deuteronomy (as in Genesis), God is a protective, nurturing presence over Israel, over the young eaglets in the nest. [1] Not just a masculine presence of God, but also feminine. Both/and.

            Commentator Matthew Henry says, “The eagle is observed to have a strong affection for her young, and to show it, not only as other creatures by protecting them and making provision for them, but by educating them and teaching them to fly. For this purpose she stirs them out of the nest where they lie dozing, flutters over them, to show them how they must use their wings, and then accustoms them to fly upon her wings till they have learnt to fly upon their own.” [2]

Yes, we often see God pictured in the Hebrew Scriptures as strong and mighty. A strong Deliverer, and mighty to save God’s people! A mama eagle is pretty powerful, too. When we consider her hovering over the nest, her protective presence and action on the behalf of her young is a striking image for the reader. And, in the last song of Moses, he uses this same imagery to show the people of Israel how much the Lord loves, cares for and nurtures them, too.

We young eaglets might be huddling in the nest. We might be frightened, or hurt, or sick. We might not be ready to fly yet. But, the Lord is hovering over us. Our God is protecting us, and keeping the predators away. Besides that, God is teaching us and guiding us to learn how to fly on our own, too.

When my husband and I stood looking at that eagle’s nest, we were amazed at the size of the nest, and the accompanying photos of the actual nests in place and in use. Amazing birds, guiding, guarding and protecting their young. And, that is exactly how God is with us!

We can take heart, too! Right here in Deuteronomy, Moses tells the people of Israel of God’s continuing love and care and nurture. As hesitant to follow God and as foolish as the people of Israel often were, the Lord kept loving them, kept forgiving them, and kept hovering over those eaglets in God’s nest. Just as the Lord does for us!

Sure, we may mess up sometimes. We may turn away from following God, and go our own way. Sure, we might be foolish sometimes, too! Saying, doing, and thinking things that are not what God would have us say, do or think. We know God still is our strong, caring, loving Mama Eagle! And, we can always trust in God’s goodness, caring and nurture towards all God’s eaglets! That is, towards all God’s children. Praise God, God has been loving, caring and full of nurture for us all. God is our protecting Mama Eagle, and that’s a blessed fact. Alleluia, amen.  

@chaplaineliza

(Suggestion: visit me at my other blogs: matterofprayer: A Year of Everyday Prayers. #PursuePEACE – and  A Year of Being Kind . Thanks!

[1] van Wijk-Bos, Johanna, W.H., “Reimagining God” (Westminster John Knox Press: Louisville, KY, 1995), 72,73.

[2] https://www.biblestudytools.com/commentaries/matthew-henry-complete/deuteronomy/32.html

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Rooted in God’s Love!

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“Rooted in God’s Love!”

Ephesians 3:14-21 (3:17) – July 25, 2021

            Some summers are particularly dry. Thankfully, we here in Illinois are receiving a fair amount of rainfall this growing season. However, I can remember dry, hot summers where the whole landscape seemed to be turning brown and all parched for lack of water. Gardeners here around Chicago need to keep track of their garden plots, to make sure their flowers, fruits and vegetables are receiving all the water they need, even now, in a season of fair rainfall.

            Imagine, having the apostle Paul pray for you and the fellow members of your congregation! And not only that, imagine those words being recorded in the Bible, for countless numbers of people to read, centuries later!

            In our reading today, Paul focuses on love – the love of Christ! And, he does connect it to gardening and growing crops. The apostle Paul wrote the letter from our Bible to the Ephesian believers to answer some pressing questions they had about the Christian life. Paul also wanted to encourage the Ephesians in their continued walk with God.

            Paul prays “that Christ will make his home in your hearts through faith. I pray that you may have your roots and foundation in love, 18 so that you, together with all God’s people, may have the power to understand how broad and long, how high and deep, is Christ’s love.”

            Just think: Paul’s recommendation to us as believers is to have our roots and foundation in Christ’s love! What comes to mind for you when you hear these words? What comes to mind for me is that Paul prays that I – and all other believers – have strong roots that go deep down, to support me and give me energy and nurture from the soil where I am planted. Imagine, we are reminded that we are all planted – grounded in the good soil of God’s love!

Some towns have tornados or hurricanes blow through, and blow havoc into many people’s lives. Remember the tornado that actually touched down last year within the Chicago city limits? In August 2020, a tornado blew through the Rogers Park neighborhood – not very far from my house! My husband and I went the next day to see some of the damage done. A large tree had been uprooted. We saw the tall tree lying on its side, all of its root system exposed. A wild sight!

            What happened to that tall tree can happen to us if you and I are not firmly grounded or planted in Christ’s love. We can be cut off from support and nurture from God and from God’s family of faith – and from our extended families, too.

            We know how important it is for our children (and grandchildren) to have the strong roots to give them the energy and the resources to grow big and strong. We can easily list them on our fingers: healthy food to eat, fresh water to drink, a good night’s sleep, on a regular basis. And, sadly, we can see what happens when children do not get these things. Food insecurity is a sad reality for many, many families across our country, as well as in the Chicago area. Schooling is particularly difficult if there is no fuel for the growing body in children’s stomachs.

            Another important aspect for our young people is when people surround and support them with love. Yes, God’s love is so important! Plus, the love and caring and support of people who love who you are and love the things you do is also an amazing thing. [1]

            Take, for example, the concept of “Gotcha Day.” This is where families who adopt celebrate the day when they became a family with the new adoptee. Oftentimes they celebrate the overflowing nature of the new love that happens in this new family. Perhaps you know a family who celebrates “Gotcha Day” themselves. This celebration is not only a day to celebrate the precious one who was adopted, but also the whole family – the new family that was made or transformed by the wonderful addition of this new family member.[2]     

            Listen to this memory of someone’s “Gotcha Day.” This is about a United Methodist minister and his wife, and their new son. He says, “It was on August 5, 1994 that my wife and I drove to Chicago O’Hare Airport to pick up an orphan named Kim Myung Hoon, a nine-month-old with bright eyes and a ready smile, and as if by magic turned him into our son Rhys, who is now a young adult and somewhat embarrassed to be the center of such attention. Gotcha Day. Every August 5, it’s Gotcha Day. It’s not a birthday, but then it sort of is; it’s a rebirth day, a day of becoming a family. That little life from halfway around the planet changed our lives in an instant. He filled a gap we didn’t even know we had. That moment turned us upside down or right side up with a simple smile and a reach from the hands that held him on that long flight from South Korea to our hands. To our hearts.” [3]

An absolutely amazing facet of love is how abundant and overflowing and bottomless it can be. God’s wondrous love for us amazes me every time I think of it. That is the marvelous nature of this love the apostle Paul talks about in our Scripture reading today. The apostle’s deepest desire is that we “together with all God’s people, may have the power to understand how broad and long, how high and deep, is Christ’s love.”

I know we cannot fully comprehend God’s love for each of us. I hope and pray we can get a little glimpse of it, though. “Gotcha Day!” What a tangible way of experiencing how we all are brought into the family of God. Can you express your thanks to God for Christ’s love for you? Please God, I want to. Please God, help me. Please God, God can help you, too.

[1] Illustrated Ministries; lesson for the 9th Sunday after Pentecost from Ephesians 3, from their 2020 Summer Children’s series.

[2]  https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/worship-planning/geared-up-for-life/ninth-sunday-after-pentecost-year-b-lectionary-planning-notes

[3] https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/worship-planning/geared-up-for-life/ninth-sunday-after-pentecost-year-b-lectionary-planning-notes/ninth-sunday-after-pentecost-year-b-preaching-notes

@chaplaineliza

(Suggestion: visit me at my other blogs: matterofprayer: A Year of Everyday Prayers. #PursuePEACE – and  A Year of Being Kind . Thanks!

(Thanks to Illustrated Ministries for their lesson for the 9th Sunday after Pentecost from Ephesians 3, from their 2020 Summer Children’s series.)