On our walks recently Steve and I have noticed certain ‘noisy’ places. They turned out to be bushes full of birds.
Someone recently asked me to describe the kingdom of God in five words or less. My favorite description of it Jesus gave (according to the Bible) is:
it’s a huge tree birds rest in
(See Matthew 13:32 or Luke 13:19).
I like word pictures, i.e. metaphors/analogies used to describe things. They’re creative and I like to think about all the ways they might fit. Often I come up with more ways than I expected.
What I like about this kingdom of God word picture is
- A huge tree is naturally inviting birds. The birds see the rest and shelter it offers and want to rest in it, so they do. (Some Bible translations say ‘build nests’ instead of ‘rest’ – implying the tree is a place birds feel safe making their home in and raising their young) Trees don’t need to recruit marketing birds to go out and persuade other birds to come rest in them. On the other hand, birds already in the tree probably do attract the attention of other birds just because they are there being birds and making a noise.
- A tree doesn’t set conditions on which birds can rest in it or on how they are supposed to rest in it.
- There’s plenty of room for birds in a huge tree – it won’t get full up
- A huge tree is strong; there’s no risk that birds resting in it will break its branches.
If there is a kingdom of God I hope it’s like this tree.
Hi Helen, I wanted to pop in and say thanks for the link (Decompressing Faith). How cool!
You know, you and I met briefly at Typhoon!, during the RevCon. My name isn’t really Lily – think “pink hair”. I was hanging out with Pam Hogeweide (She’s a good buddy of mine). Anyhow, wanted to make that connection for you. Oh, and I’m also friends with Donna V, whom I think hangs around OTM, too.
I have appreciated your comments on my blog. Once, you asked me if I had ever visited COTE or Off the Map – and to answer you, I have and I regularly read COTE, but I don’t comment at either of those sites just because I never have gotten around to it!
I really liked this post, by the way. I love metaphor, too, and I love what you said about the tree no setting conditions about which birds can rest in it, or how. Very cool.
Anyhow, that’s all for now.
AKA Lily
Thanks ‘Lily’!
Yes, I thought I had met you with Pam at the conference.
I like the thoughtful comments you make on your blog so I linked to it. Did you ever see my last comment on “Unchurch”, by the way? I gave you a link I thought you might be interested in.
NO! I must have missed your last comment on that post. I will check it out for sure. I haven’t spent a ton of time at OTM yet, but I love what’s going on there, I usually hear about stuff from Pam.
Oh, and I realized my boo-boo, it’s not COTE, it’s CatE. I do know the difference, but my brain always wants to call it Conversation ON The Edge. Anyhow, you know what I meant. Sorry.
Thanks for liking my blog!
Lily – yes I knew what you meant when you wrote COTE. It’s close enough!
Thanks for writing such a likeable blog! 😉 (And I’m glad you’re feeling better)
In the original Jewish context of this word image that Jesus gives there is another layer of meaning that I think you might appreciate:
The word Jesus uses for the birds is commonly used in the OT and other Jewish writings as symbolic for the Gentile nations. Thus, for Jesus to describe the kingdom of God as a place where the birds (i.e. the non-Jewish nations) can find rest is a way of saying that the kingdom is radically inclusive – all the former “outsiders” are now insiders. The kingdom is for everybody, not just one special chosen people (whether Jews back then, or Christians now).
Thanks Mike. Yes, I do appreciate that – and it’s consistent with what I was already thinking about the tree.
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