This is part of the worship series
"Consider the Birds of the Air"
Series Introduction
Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4
WEEK THREE
THE SON OF MAN HAS NO PLACE
Call to Worship
Psalm 84 (different sung or spoken settings)
*Call to Confession
Christ our Lord invites all who love him,
who earnestly repent of their sin
and seek to live in peace with one another.
Therefore let us confess our sin before God and one another.
Prayer of Confession
O God, who brooded over the world when it was created,
and broods now over your children
until we are shaped in the image of Christ,
we confess our daily sins:
the word sharply spoken,
the praise withheld,
the embrace not given,
the hurt disguised,
the envy felt,
the self indulged,
the need neglected.
Receive us now broken, penitent, wishing it were otherwise.
Enfold us in the arms of love and forgiveness, and restore a new spirit within us.
Make us one with ourselves, with each other, with you.
Let your name be magnified, let Christ be glorified, let the Holy Spirit be intensified,
in each heart and on all our lips, this day and forever.
Amen.
—John Killinger, Lost In Wonder, Love & Praise: Prayers and Affirmations for Christian Worship, p. 49. © 1986, Angel Books, Lynchburg, VA 24503. Used by permission.
Alternatively, the congregation could sing Psalm 139, “Lord, You Have Searched Me” Post and Oliver
*Assurance of Pardon
Leader: Hear the good news: Christ died for us while we were yet sinners; that proves God’s love for us. In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven!
People: In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven!
All: Glory to God. Amen.
Hymn of Response
“Spirit of God, Descend upon My Heart” Croly and Arkinson
Prayer for Illumination
“Spirit Divine, Inspire Our Prayers” Reed and Cruger
Scripture
Matthew 8:20; Matthew 23:37
Sermon Seed
Just before Jesus said to his disciples, “Birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head,” we are told that Jesus crossed to “the other side of the lake.” Most likely this was the region of Capernaum on the northwestern coast of the Sea of Galilee, an area where there are low pine trees stuffed full of birds’ nests. You can almost hear the chirping counterpoint above Jesus’ voice in this text. Even frail birds who build their homes on precarious and unpredictable places have homes; Jesus does not.
Boevé’s painting of this text is itself a sermon. We see crown sparrows nesting on fence rails in the shape of the cross. They are surrounded by grapevines—a triple metaphor of communion, Christ the vine, and we the branches destined to bear fruit.
Christ would find his home for us on the cross of Calvary. On his way to Calvary, Jesus compares himself, in one of the tenderest passages of Scripture, to a hen in a poultry yard, evoking an unforgettable scene. A brood of freshly hatched yellow chicks scampers across an open space, peeping loudly while their nervous mother hen clucks at them. Overhead, as if out of nowhere, a hawk dives, wings folded, keen eyes gleaming, talons open, ready to grab a chick. But the hen’s eye is also sharp, and she quickly collects her chicks (in Boevé’s painting seven symbolic chicks gather) and hides them under her wings. “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem . . . ,” laments Jesus, “how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing” (Matt. 23:37).
God gathered Israel under his wings, delivering them from bondage, giving them quail to eat in the wilderness and providing for their every need. But when the Son of God came to his people offering protection, care, and love, they rejected him.
No wonder Jesus wept.
But we rejoice. Even though Jesus’ wings would be crucified and bruised for our iniquities, no ultimate evil will come to us. Jesus has taken it all. He protects us. There is a hand in the darkness, a God who knows and calls us by name, a God who will never let go of his grip on us.
Congregational Song
“O Lord, My God, Most Earnestly” Stebbins
“See, Christ Was Wounded for Our Sake” Recker and Foley
“I Am the Holy Vine” Ireland
“Psalm 148” Anon
“Spirit Song” Wimber
“Praise to the Lord, the Almighty” Neander and Lang
“The Head That Once Was Crowned with Thorns” Clark and Kelly
“Shelter Me, O God” Gather 276, SNC
Anthem Suggestions
“Jerusalem,” Felix Mendelssohn, St. Paul; soprano solo (G. Schirmer 321)
