Taking Flight Part 3: Flying in Formation

“Taking Flight Part 3:  Flying in Formation”

By: Pastor Andy Whaley

“No man is an island, complete in himself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.  Any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind.”            – John Donne (Christian Theologian & Writer)

Last week focused on heeding Jesus’ call of the wild; breaking free from the weight of the world’s ever-present seduction of, and our own sinful nature’s constant desire for - comfort, security, and self-serving religiosity; risking instead to take flight with Jesus on His untamed migration.              

Make no mistake, however, joining Him on this amazing adventure does not entitle us to simply go off in different directions, chasing our own desires, and living as though we have no responsibility to a greater community.  Yet, this is one of the greatest battles we currently face, the constant barrage of a deadly one-two punch:  

The first, reducing Jesus message solely to the realm of personal salvation (it’s all about me and Jesus, I made my decision, said my prayer, now I’m good to go) leaving us and the “gospel of the kingdom” that He actually brought with Him, woefully incomplete.

- Bam! The Right Cross of Ignorance!   

The second, highlighting our society’s alarming worship of individuality, over and above any sense of or bond to community.  Espousing a dangerously inhumane propaganda that you are more important than everybody else.  Instilling in us the insidious and highly addictive task of daily comparing ourselves to one another.

- KaPow! The Uppercut of Dissonance!

The painful truth is that this is neither a practical nor sustainable way of life!  Everybody gets tired.  Everybody falls down.  Everybody needs someone to lean on.  In the book of the Bible titled Ecclesiastes, we hear from the great poet king Solomon, (who tried individualism to its max), that when you live for yourself and you happen to slip and fall down - there is nobody there to pick you up!

What fool!  What a pity!  What a knockout blow!

(Eccl. 4:10b)

This however, is not the Way of life that Jesus calls us to!  In our Gospel reading for the week (Matt. 4:17-24), Jesus announces that the true call of the wild:

“Come, Follow Me, and I will show you how to fish for people.”

flows from “the gospel of the kingdom!”  Proclaiming we are part of a greater community.  Calling us to renewed civic responsibility.  Promising us greater blessings and benefits as citizens living out this deeper reality.

Isn’t it a little embarrassing that even wild geese know better than to go it alone.  They provide us with a great example of what happens when we fly as a community.  1.) Flying in formation conserves their energy, and reduces wind resistance, adding at least 71% greater flying range to the flock than if each bird were to fly alone.  2.) Although the V formation benefits all of the birds, the bird in the lead position works the hardest. When it tires, he drops out of the lead position and falls further back in the formation. Another bird will rapidly move forward to take the lead and keep the community together. The two birds in the furthest trailing positions also tire more rapidly than those in the middle, so these positions are also rotated frequently. This cyclical rearrangement gives all birds the responsibility of leading as well as the maximum benefits of being in the middle.

3.) Flying in formation provides the geese with increased visual contact allowing for better communication and coordination within the group, keeping the flock together and minimizing the possibility of losing anyone as they cross vast distances. 

4.) Finally, when a goose gets sick, or is wounded by gunshot, and falls out of the group, two geese fall out of formation and follow him down to help and protect him. They stay with him until he is either able to fly or until he dies, and then they launch out on their own or with another formation until they catch up with their original group.

(Ecclesiastes 4:9-13)

The kingdom reality that Jesus brought with Him promises us that we were created (Gen. 2:18), and redeemed (John 15:12-13) for love, compassion, and companionship as we live in the midst of an eternal community (Rev. 21:2-3) today and for all eternity!



- Andy

Taking Flight Part 2: Untamed Migration

“Taking Flight Part 2:  Untamed Migration”

By: Pastor Andy Whaley

“Those that give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.”  

 - Benjamin Franklin
 

Today I want to share with you a parable by Soren Kerkegaard: a Danish theologian, and philosopher who lived during the early 19^th century.  He was a man who had a passion for pointing out the practical, and relevant way of life that Jesus gave His followers to live in concrete and substantial ways; over and above the simply abstract and ideological thinking of his day.

 “Soren grew up in the countryside surrounded by farms that raised domesticated geese.  Each spring he would watch as a new gaggle of goslings hatched and grew.  Over the course of their short lives, these geese would gorge themselves at constantly refilled troughs of grain until they were so fat they could hardly walk. He imagined that they believed their lives to be perfect, as every need they had was catered to in abundance.

However, when autumn came, a gruesome truth was revealed.

At this time, the wild geese that had spent the warm summer months in Denmark would gather in preparation for their southerly journey – an untamed migration.  They would circle in the skies high above the farms, echoing their call of the wild - to any stragglers on the ground - to join them in their heavenly flight.  At this point, the domesticated geese would lift their heads from the feeding troughs and look into the skies.  Desiring to heed the wild call of their untamed cousins, they would become animated, running as best they could around their enclosures, emulating flight.  Of course, their gluttonous diet and life of luxury had ensured that they were far too fat and lazy, to ever get airborne, and to be honest, at this point in their lives they probably didn’t really want to join their untamed cousins on that perilous journey risking the self-serving lifestyle that they had become accustomed to anyhow. 

But their instincts were strong, driving them mad for an instant, desperately trying to recall the beauty and nature in which they were created.  Sadly, they were left only to day-dream for a brief moment of what it must be like to fly.  The wild untamed geese would then fly off soaring through the skies together continuing on their untamed migration – while the fattened, domesticated geese would simply return to their barnyard existence satisfied with the enclosure and the walls around them, completely ignorant of the farmer’s grim ultimate purpose – they were destined for the chopping block, and the dinner table.

There is quite a difference between the wild geese soaring through the skies on their untamed migration, and the domesticated fattened geese destined for a gruesome end isn’t there.  What of us, reading these words today?  What kind of followers of Jesus have we become?  What kind of followers is He calling us to be? 

A storied interpretation of John 1:35-42a:

“The next day the wild-eyed prophet named John, you remember, the guy who refused to give in to the fads and fashions of his day choosing instead to cause quite a stir living out in the desert and wearing camel’s hair and eating honey for breakfast and locusts for dinner.  Yeah, that guy, he was there again down by the Jordan, with two of his followers describing how the wild, untamed life of a follower of Yahweh, is very different from the comfortable, domesticated, religious existence that the people around them had so easily settled for - when suddenly, he saw Jesus flying by. The wild-eyed prophet cried out – Look! there He goes that wild Messiah – the one we have been waiting for all these years – He’s on His untamed migration.  As He flies, He will break us free from the lies of our comfort, our luxury, and our religiosity - all that stuff that has been keeping us down for so long. He will set us free to be wild, to fly with Him on His untamed migration, and to echo His call of the wild to others.”

When the two followers of the wild-eyed prophet heard him say this, they immediately began to run after Jesus.  Turning His head mid-flight, Jesus saw them running alongside the river’s edge chasing after Him and He asked, “what do you want?” they said Rabbi – which meant teacher (of the wild and untamed life), “where are you flying off to?”  And Jesus replied with the call of the wild, still heard today -      

“Come, and you will see!”

After the two disciples had spent the day with Him, flying free and learning His way of untamed life –Andrew (one of the two) who was already remembering his instincts and his wild untamed nature took to flight in order to find his brother Simon.  As he set foot on the ground in front of him, Andrew echoed the call of the wild he had answered to his brother,  “Simon, we have found the wild, untamed messiah, His name is Jesus, – get up of the ground and fly with us!”

In a society so hell bent on chasing after comfort, security, and self-serving religiosity it is very difficult - indeed a true challenge on a daily basis to remember that we have been called to live a life in Jesus Christ that intentionally and consistently engages challenges, risk, and self-sacrifice.  Are we ready to follow the wild messiah on His untamed migration filled with adventure and yes, even risk?  Are we ready to leave the comfort, the security, the luxury, and self-serving religiosity of the farm in order to take flight and “Come and See”? 

As you fly this week, may you be blessed to know and to grow in the adventure of His Way of Life that you too echo out the call of the wild to those you meet.

And all God’s people said, Amen!

- Andy

Taking Flight Part 1: Born to Fly

“Taking Flight Part 1:  Born to Fly”

By: Pastor Andy Whaley

This past week Sam and I were out on the playground in our neighborhood, and as is the case almost every time we are there, Sam ran over to the swing set and cried out with great joy and excitement, “Daddy, Swing me.”  As I walked over to the swing set I reached down and picked up this barely 3 foot tall bundle of life and set him alight upon his aircraft of choice – a light blue swing with slightly rusted chains – second from the right.  I gently took up my fatherly duty to swing him, and immediately the cries of, “higher, higher, higher daddy! – to infinity and beyond” rang out across the playground. I began to bubble up with fatherly pride and joy as other parents looked over to see who this suburban daredevil was. 

As he was swinging I engaged the fatherly task of instructing my boy on the proper way to take flight and keep flying – kick your feet up, drop ‘em down, straighten your legs, bend your knees – real simple instructions with practical and meaningful effect – someday!

But this day, as I am pushing him and calling out the instructions, Sam turns his head mid-flight and cries out to me, “Daddy do you see the plane.” “Yes!”, I replied,  “he is really flying high through the clouds, and going very fast isn’t he.”  And with child-like simplicity, alarming honesty, and deep sincerity written across his face he said, “Daddy, I think I forgot how to fly.“  I was taken aback for just a second by this statement so I did the only dad thing I knew to do and asked, “Did you know how to fly before.”  And Sam simply and very matter-of-factly replied, “Of Course, didn’t you?”

Then he said to me, “Daddy if you keep pushing me – I will remember!”

You see we were all born to fly – we just struggle throughout our lives with remembering how at times.  Sometimes it takes a 3 ½ year old boy to remind me of how simple it really is.  That’s exactly what today’s gospel reading is all about – Jesus coming to the river Jordan to be dunked under the rushing waters – bending his knees low as he goes under, and then suddenly flying up out of the water again, legs shot straight! It is in that moment that Jesus taught us all how to fly. He took all the dead weight that world had to offer, the stuff we all have inside us that would prevent us from ever being able to get off the ground and he took it all down with him deep into the waters – drowning it and leaving it there, and then he gave us all the freedom to soar higher than we could ever have imagined, when he shot back up out of the waters and into the air.  He did this to fulfill all righteousness – he said.  Freeing us from our sin and empowering us to fly to the highest of heights with him.  And as he did this for you and for me His Father looked down at Him and said, “This is my son in whom I find great delight – I love watching Him fly.”

In our baptism – we were all born to fly, just like Jesus!  And even though we may forget how, at times, our Father is always right there with us – pushing us once again, calling out simple instructions – bend your knees, kick your legs straight; go down deep into the waters, and shoot high into the air once again!

As Sam kept swinging and another glorious Texas twilight began to set in with the glorious colors she paints on the clouds - the oranges, the pinks, the reds, and the purples against a blue/graying sky, I noticed that Sam had become very quite.  And as he leaned his head back ever so slightly to feel the wind in his hair as he soared back and forth, higher and higher, I noticed that his eyes were closed and an amazing childish grin had spread wide across his face, and I asked him, “Sam, what are you doing – and he answered, “remembering how to fly daddy!”

And All God’s people said – Amen!

- Andy