Hello,
Just got back from a week on the Outer Banks of North
Carolina thanks to the invite of my brother in law and his wife. It was a beautiful week of great
weather, relaxing and laughter.
Spent a lot of time in the pool and hot tub, and every morning I took a four-mile
walk down the beach….something that you can’t do in Western Pennsylvania.
On my walks I picked up seashells to use in our Baptisms (we
give the sea shell that we use to scoop up the water to the Baptized as a
remembrance of the great day of God’s grace to them), a day worth remembering
for the rest of one’s life. Also,
on my walks I enjoyed the splash of the ocean on my feet, watching the dolphins
play in the water, and seeing the delight in the children as they gathered up
sand into sand castles. Another
thing in which I took delight was watching the pelicans glide over the water.
If you have ever been to the Outer Banks, then you know that
one of the sites is the strings of pelicans that travel north to south, and
then south to north. Sometimes
they sail thirty or forty feet above you, never flapping their wings but just
gliding effortlessly on the ocean breezes. Most often, though, they slice through the air inches off of
the ocean waters. Sometimes
alone. Sometimes in groups of two
or three. But most often in a
string of eight or ten. It is an
amazing sight to watch. As they
sail just inched off the water they look as if they are connected on a string,
making a sine curve over each wave in perfect mathematical synchronization. The lead pelican charts the path, and
the rest of them gracefully and perfectly follow.
You may already know this, but the pelican is a symbol of
Christ. How so? Well, there is an ancient tale, dating
back to the 2nd century, the truth of which I do not know, that in
times of famine and starvation, the mother pelican would puncture her skin and
nourish her fragile chicks with her blood. (You can see the connection,
especially with the Lord’s Supper where he continually nourishes us at his
table with his body and blood.)
She gives up her life….in order to give life to her chicks.
Well, I don’t if that is true, but I do know this: the
pelicans who followed that lead pelican just inches above the hungry waves of
the ocean did so without deadly harm.
The winds may have quickly sped up, and the waves may have jumped out of
the sea, but somehow the lead pelican knew when to rise up, and when to glide
down unharmed by the waves. Those
pelicans who followed followed the lead of the first pelican, and because they
did, the seas did not swallow them up, either.
Jesus is often spoken of as the good shepherd….leading his
sheep to still waters and green pastures.
As I walked along the beach of the ocean this past week, I saw an image
of Jesus that strikes more relevant to me, one who has never tended sheep. As I saw the guidance of the lead
pelican, and the safe flight of those who followed it, it occurred to me that
maybe instead of seeing in Jesus a practice of pelicans of which I am not sure
is true (feeding its young with its blood), I found myself face to face with a
pelican image of Jesus that is undeniably true. Jesus is the lead pelican. He is the one who knows how to navigate the changing
winds. He is the one who can sense
when the waves are about to rise.
He is the one who safely leads each flap of the flight from nesting
places to fish filled waters. He
is the one who is worthy of our trust and attention.
The Bible may call Jesus the Good Shepherd, and surely he
is. But me….well, I think that I
will call him the lead pelican, and surely he is.
Have a great week.
God’s grace and peace, (ggap)
Pastor Jerry Nuernberger
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