Bird-brained
Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Matthew 6:26
Sow, Reap, Gather – The universe has a built-in economic order. It’s not quite the one we recognize. Our economic model twists God’s design just a tiny bit, but that tiny bit sends us down a dead-end street. Jesus corrects our vision with this metaphor from the birds.
There is nothing particularly special about these three Greek words. You might recognize some of our English derivatives if you knew that “to sow” was the word speiro (which is the root of sperma – seed – something containing the germ of the new) or “to reap” – therizo (to harvest, but also “summer” since the harvest occurred in the thermal time) or “to gather” – sunago (to assemble together – the basis of the word “synagogue”). It’s not the actual words that matter. It’s the order and the sub-ordination.
The first step is sowing. Think of this as the foundation stage. This is the hours of preparation, the nurturing, the diligent overseeing. If you want your seeds to grow, you have to pay attention to this part of the process. You can’t toss the seeds anywhere and expect to see a harvest. That is just as true for wheat as it is for careers, capital development and children.
Sowing produces harvest. In ancient Israel, this was the summer job. This is the time to reap the fruit of all your labors. Bread doesn’t walk to the table. Neither do long-tended relationships suddenly become joyful melodies. Harvesting takes more work.
Finally, there is gathering – the process of bringing together, in this case, to store against a rainy day. Not all gathering is for future protection, but any crop left harvested in the field will soon rot. Bring it in.
We think the pattern is almost universal. But Jesus turns it all upside down when He points out that this order is subordinate to the God of heaven. Jesus explains that we are the bird-brained, thinking that the economic order of our lives is under our control. Jesus notices that the birds don’t bother with any of this order, not because there is no order but because they know something we don’t – God is the power behind every order and they can trust Him. The birds demonstrate a spiritual wisdom far deeper than men. They have learned to utterly rely on the Provider of the order. They are in tune with the universe. Life is a soaring song.
We, on the other hand, have yet to learn to fly.
The first step in any ordered universe is acknowledgement of the Orderer. Without that step, you are stuck on the ground.
