L.C.F. DATE: 22/1/17

SERMON TITLE: “THE MAKING OF EAGLES SAINTS”

PREACHER: REV. ADRIAN HALLETT

READINGS: ISAIAH 40: 25-31; DEUTERONOMY 32: v.1 – 12

It is very interesting to note the animal names God uses to call His people, some perhaps more flattering than others! He likens us to `cattle` in Is. 63: v 13. “Like cattle that go down to the plain, they were given rest by the Spirit of the Lord”, Isaiah recalling the way God had led and cared for His people under Moses.

He refers to us as `sheep` not the most intelligent of animals! Isaiah again, this time underlining our stubborn and rebellious ways. He says “we all like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way` (Is. 53 v. 6). Jesus, in Matthew chapter 6, when he sees the large crowd….had compassion on them, “because they were like sheep without a shepherd” (v.34).

We are referred to us as 'snakes and doves` - I like the 'doves' bit, not so sure about the snake part! Jesus said “we are to be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves”.

But, the striking name that is used is that of `eagle`. God compares Himself to a great eagle and compares His saints to `eagles`. “I carried you on eagles wings and bought you to myself”(Ex. 19:4) and in Isaiah, “those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles” (Is. 40 v. 31).

Every reference in scripture to eagles is used in a good sense, a positive sense, to signify the saints of God.

There is though, one very interesting passage which helps us understand “eagle saints”, and which also shows us how God deals with His people. How he draws them to Himself - “The Making of Eagle Saints”, the title of this sermon. Also, this same passage makes clear the attributes now given to His eagle saints - “The Markings of Eagle Saints”. Our sermon title for next week.

We heard all about it in our reading this morning. Deut. 32 v.11. “Like an eagle that stirs up its nest and hovers over its young that spreads its wings to catch them and carries them on its pinions” – the way God cares for His people – the way He makes us into `eagle saints`.

The first step in the making of eagle saints is to stir up the nest. The eagle builds its nest on a lofty mountain crag or in the highest tree it can find. It makes the nest using sticks and branches of trees and then lines it with something soft – wool, paper or rags, to make it comfortable for its young. So, when they are first hatched, they are warm, cosy and comfortable. They like it in this lovely nest! But, as they get older and begin to get large enough to fly, the eagle does something we might think strange and uncaring. She forces them out of the nest by making it as uncomfortable as she can. She strips away the soft lining……..she tears up and throws it all out of the nest. This means the young birds then have to settle down on to harsh sharp sticks and thorns. No more home comforts! That’s the reason for it - to make them dissatisfied with their home so that they are willing to move on to somewhere else.

Now this is a visual aid as to how God deals with His people, to bring them into a closer and deeper walk with Him. He stirs up the nest…..He makes them unhappy….He makes them uncomfortable, so that they might move on to some new life or experience of Him. That’s exactly how He dealt with His people in Egypt. He built them a fine 'nest' under the administration of Joseph. For many years they were comfortable and prosperous. But, the time came for them to move out from Egypt. So God stirred up their nest, he made things uncomfortable for them….He took away, He removed the soft lining of their lives. He let them down on to the hard, uncomfortable sticks of trouble and suffering, until they cried out to God for deliverance…He made things so uncomfortable for them so that they were ready to move forward.

That is the way God worked with His people then, all those centuries ago. Nothing has changed. He still works in the same way. Stirring our nests, taking from us those things which make us comfortable….he stirs up our lives, our lives that we have relied upon to make us cosy and secure. Things we have allowed to be built into our lives that become so precious to us….things upon which we build our security….He stirs up our nest, He makes us unsure, unstable and insecure, but He does it for a purpose. He does it because He knows we would never move out into his realm. He knows that we would never come to trust Him and to depend upon Him unless He took such drastic action.

So, when you feel your nest is being disturbed….when you have to face uncertainty and insecurity…perhaps through broken relationships…perhaps through sickness or ill health….perhaps through financial difficulties, recognise it for what it is. Don’t fight to hold on to the old comforts….this is God's way of moving you to that point of moving on and out, to learn to trust Him in ways you have never experienced before, to become an eagle saint.

The second stage in the making of eagle saints is that the mother bird “flutters over them”. The young birds hear the sound of the mother eagle’s wings. This is done foe a particular purpose: to draw their attention away from their discomfort….from the thorns and sticks which are making life so difficult - to draw their attention away from their surroundings to her. When she hears them whining and complaining…..as they move around uneasily…as they search for somewhere more comfortable, then, she rises above the nest and shakes out her enormous wings over their heads with the sole aim of changing their focus of attention, away from the pain and discomfort, to her.

What a graphic picture that is of how God deals with us! When God allows trouble and sorrow, sickness and bereavement or whatever into our lives. What do we tend to do? We grumble and complain….we find fault; we do all we can to make life easy for ourselves. We look for solace and comfort.

Then , God, as it were, flutters over us – we hear the sound of His wings…He does it to draw attention to Himself, to get us to look away from the troubles and tribulations….away from the grave….away from the sickness……away from the lost reputation. We catch the sound of those mysterious wings. God is drawing us to Himself with sounds we have never heard before.

The third step is that she, “spreads her wings”. Now why does she do that? So that her young may have confidence in her and her strength.

The female eagle is larger than the male bird. The wing span can be anything up to fourteen feet. No bird in the whole world has wings like the eagle! When the wings are folded, you might think they are a couple of feet long. When she was in the nest, the young birds would have no idea of her size, or her power. But now they can see just how big and strong and powerful she is. If they could speak, maybe they would say “Mummy, what big wings you have!”

Again, this is just how God deals with us. “He spreads his wings”, He “spreadeth abroad His wings”. Once he has got our attention; once we are beginning to look to Him, He spreads abroad the great wings of His attributes – His majesty – His power – His glory. His wings stretched out for our safety, salvation and security. Our focus and attention is now on Him…as we begin to see Him in all His glory…as we begin to see His awesome power…as we begin to see how He protects His people….how He loves His people with an unfailing love, as we see how trustworthy and unchanging He is…as we begin to glimpse more and more of His glory and power and majesty, then, we are able to move on, to move forward. To leave behind the uncertainty of the tearing up of our “earthly nest”…what we have depended upon, what we have trusted in. Those things that were so important to us become unimportant, insignificant even, once He spreads abroad those great wings of His power and glory and majesty!

The next stage is that the mother eagle “bears them on her wings”. She stands on the edge of the nest, lays her wings down so the young eagles can climb upon her wings and fasten their claws into her feathers – she is going to teach them to fly! The young eagles are more than happy to step out of the sharp sticks and thorns onto their mothers soft, great wings. The mother eagle then takes them; one at a time, on what must be a very scary journey! She soars to four or five thousand feet and then, with a sudden lurch, will throw off the young eagle. The young bird tumbles and falls and rolls over, puts out its wings, flaps its wings frantically as it falls. The mother bird is watching over the young bird all the time. When the helpless little bird is halfway down to earth. She swoops down and with the accuracy and speed of a bullet; she catches the young bird again on her wing and repeats the process over and over again, until the young eagle has learned how to fly. Once it has learned to fly, the eagle is able to cope with anything the elements can throw at it…it can fly in the fiercest storms; no wind can deter it.

Now, this is a picture of the way God teaches us to live by faith. Sometimes that can be very scary! We are disturbed, we become very uncomfortable in our situation, and we catch a glimpse of His power and majesty – more than happy to step out with the comfort of His care, only to find He drops us off. Leaves us to ourselves. That can be extremely scary! We feel so vulnerable…..we feel abandoned, we wonder what He is doing, and why He has done this….How am I going to survive?

But it is all done for a purpose, and He is overseeing it all, teaching us, against all the odds, to learn to trust in Him alone.

No doubt the young eagle, as it was tumbling down and down, scared half to death, must have longed for the security of its nest, uncomfortable though it was! When we wonder what is happening to us…or why He is allowing a difficult situation that we feel will overcome us, we have to learn to see it through the eyes of faith. Recognise that He is teaching us to trust in Him alone.

Not to trust in ourselves, in our own strength and abilities…not to trust in our feelings or past spiritual experiences….not to trust in circumstances. Not to yearn for how things used to be….not to strive to get back to the 'old nest', but to trust in Him and Him alone….to fall as it were, helpless, into His everlasting arms, His infinite love.

Once we have learned that lesson, then we are able to withstand anything that the world, the flesh and the devil can throw at us. We will be able to withstand all the storms of life…able to soar above circumstances and situations….able to trust His word and His character even when all around us may mock us for our faith in Him.

When we reach that point, then we truly are His “Eagle Saints”.

Where are you in that process of the making of `eagle saints`? Is your nest being disturbed? Are the things around you on which you depended for your security being stripped from you?

Are you fighting to stay in the nest, uncomfortable though it is?

Are you perhaps beginning to hear Him fluttering His wings above you, calling you to trust in Him?

Are you beginning to see more and more of his power and majesty and glory, encouraging you to put your trust in him?

Have you come to that point of leaving behind past securities, knowing the futility of trusting in them, moving more and more towards that complete trust in Him? Are you able to trust Him, scary though sometimes that might seem, knowing that He is in control, that He oversees everything and that `Underneath are the everlasting arms`?

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This sermon draws on the insights given by G. D. Watson in his book 'Tribulation Worketh'.

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