The Sparrow's Fall

"Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care." (Matthew 10:29 (NIV))

     There are three things in this verse that weigh on my mind this week. The first two have to do with the tiny word, "Fall." The Greek word used for "Fall" is Peseitai (πεσεῖται), which the Greeks used in any number of expressions to denote a change in physical location or position from a higher to a lower status—everything from "to fall into a given class," "to fall from power," to "to perish."(1)

     First, it is important to note the original languages do not necessarily imply the sparrow dies, although that is one possible interpretation. We are analogous to the sparrow in this passage, and yes, if God cares when even a tiny sparrow dies, we can be sure He mourns when one of us suffers. He sacrificed His Only Son for each of us, proving how much He cares for and values each of us, so His concern for our well-being is beyond debate.

     However, a large percentage of the uses of the Greek word, Peseitai, denote a simple change in physical position—everything from falling from a nest, as you would expect baby birds sometimes do, to a change in social status, as one who is in a higher class being moved to a lower class. This means that God's care for us is not only awakened when the tragedy of death occurs! In other words, God hurts right along with us no matter the degree of our fall! Whether we literally stumble and stub a toe, are reduced to the extreme in every socio-economic sphere, like Job, or “Fall" somewhere in between, God is there with us.

     Every tragedy that befalls us, He feels right along with us. God is not Just a God of the big picture. If our lives were paintings, He would be concerned not only with every brush stroke, but which brushes were used, and the actual mixture of each pigment. If our lives were tapestries, He would be concerned with the material of each thread, the color of the warp and weft and every strand, and even which knots were used and where. Every detail of your life is important to God our Father!

     There is a second, lesser used but equally important use of the Greek word, Peseitai, in expressions like “To set oneself to work, " or “To lower oneself to a task, " as in the English expression “Put your nose to the grindstone.” William Barclay is among Bible commentators who like to emphasize this meaning of the word.

     I believe this can be an important shade of meaning for us. To put it in the context of the verse, the sparrow may have fallen from the nest accidentally, but it is also possible the sparrow lowered itself from the nest or alighted to the ground on purpose! Perhaps the little bird was plucking up a bit of fluff or straw to fortify its nest, or dropped itself to the ground to pounce on a tasty worm.

     The extrapolation we can take from the metaphor is that God is with us in our work. We've all probably heard the old expression, "The Lord helps those who help themselves." God gives each of us a brain and a body and additional resources. Why would He not expect us to use them! Why would He provide tools for us only to expect us to ignore them, or even coddle us in our laziness? Allow me to mix metaphors a bit, and say that we ought not to be the grasshoppers in this story, fiddling away our time on Earth! God cares about us in our work—the strife and struggle of it—but He cares also that we work. He expects us to use the gifts were given! Don't just sit in your comfy nest! Metaphorically at least, get out and work! As the Old Shaker motto went, "Hands to work, and hearts to God"!

     I have already touched on the third thing I want to emphasize in the verse. The word “care” does not appear in the original languages! This verse does not say “God cares when the sparrow falls, therefore he cares for us.”

     Rather, it says “God is with the sparrow, therefore He is with you all the more!” if we tie the translation more closely to the Greek order of words in the original version, it would say something like, “Surely not, two sparrows for a dime, are sold and one of them not will fall by itself upon the earth far from that Father of yours.”(Ibid) The sparrow does not fall far from The Father and that Father is yours! Compare it to the difference between sending someone a heart emoji when you hear they are going through a time of trouble, versus physically going to that person, and being with them—helping them in and through their strife.

     God does not just sit on a tall, ivory throne high above us and shed a tear when we struggle. He is there with us in every moment of our lives, immediately and intimately beside us, sleeves rolled up and working alongside us, grieving when we grieve and rejoicing when we rejoice!

     My friends, if you take only one thing away from this blog, remember God's love for you is infinite! Big or small, God deeply cares about every event in your life to the point that He participates in each tiny moment! From the minutiae to the maximum, God is with you!