Hello,
Last week I was sitting with my brother-in-law by the stream that flows next to his house, solving the world’s problems. (I don’t think we made much of a dent….good thing that God has “the whole world in his hands.”) It was a lovely fall day. The trees were half-way to their color change, so there was a mixture of gold, orange and green. The sun was shining full, and as the trees caught it rays the scenery was softened like felt. The stream, although low, trickled by us as it gently clicked over the rocks, and the temperature was perfect for an outside summit. It was, as my brother-in-law says, a “chamber of commerce” day.
And then I looked up. Directly above us, just above the treetops was a volt (apparently that is the proper name for a group of turkey vultures) of turkey vultures circling. There must have been at least a dozen of them. When I saw them I wondered if they knew something about the impending future of the two of us over whom they were lurking. Were they drooling with anticipation over a delightful meal being set under them? They were high enough that I couldn’t see the whites of their eyes, but by the sheer number of them they obviously had their eyes on something…..maybe us?
I don’t know if this circling doom has ever happened to you….not literally, but figuratively….but really. Have you ever woke up in the morning, feeling the freshness of a new day, and then suddenly turkey vultures appear in your sight….a call from a child, a news flash, a letter from the IRS, something expensive suddenly breaks, an unusual pain. The beauty of the day takes on an ominous feel. Will these hovering turkey vultures be making a meal of you? It has happened to me. More than once….more than I can count, I think.
In truth, the future is fraught with danger and gloom, and someone once said that it is a good thing that we don’t know what the future holds, because if we did we might not want to step into it.
Thing is, although turkey vultures may encircle the future skies above us, they do not fly alone. When Jesus said to his disciples as he physically left them and ascended into heaven, “I am with you always, even to the end of the age,” he left them, and us with a promise, that he will, like a mighty eagle also be encircling above us. The turkey vultures might drool over us and think they might have their eyes on their dinner, but Jesus says they are wrong….flat wrong…because the skies and the land and all that are in them belong to him….and that includes you and me….and he has staked his claim, a claim that he will not give over to turkey vultures, one you and me.
In the Bible there is a story of a friend of Jesus, Lazarus, who dies, and when Jesus arrives in the town, Lazarus’ sisters say to Jesus, “Lord, if you would have been here, my brother would not have died.” For many years, I heard that as a scolding of Jesus for arriving late, but as I study that story more deeply, I now hear it as a confession of faith….faith that Jesus has power over death. I put that story to music some years ago, and the song of those sisters when they greet Jesus is, “Lord, when you draw near there is hope.”
Hope. When the turkey vultures are circling above, know this. Jesus is with you always, even to the end of the age, and he will draw near with the might of an eagle. And he has staked his claim on you, a claim that he will not hand over to any ugly turkey vultures. “Lord, when you draw near there is hope.”
Have a great week.
God’s grace and peace, (ggap)
Pastor Jerry Nuernberger
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